Touch of Death
by RukiaRocks
Summary: Grand Duke Toshiro Hitsugaya is a demon. On his 189th b-day he gets a surprise at his gate,a human child.In order to evade his future position as the ruler of the underworld, Toshiro decides to take this child in and raise it illegally.He names her,Karin
1. Prolog

Prolog

Today was my 189th "birthday" as they say. Things are so dull as they always are and have been since my induction as the Successor... I thought, maybe since my freedom would be stolen anyhow, I should give a damn about the rules and take a vacation, maybe try to visit the human world; something of that nature. But of course the night I left the manor my hands where still shaking with some sort of indescribable emotion.

That was, though, so very long ago. So my hands are firm, but I'm just as bored with life as I was living in hell. I was so very sick and tired of having people suck up to me and having everything about my fate decided for me. So that night when my hands shook so very violently, I spread my wings and took flight, North, for the world of humans. I was sick and tired of people forgetting how I had gotten my position of next ruler of the underworld; I was the strongest of the all the demonic beings(besides my old man who refuses to die) and I wasn't about to let anyone boss me around. So I took matters into my own hands. Ten years ago, I left without warning, and burned into the wall of my castle, 'gone where it's brighter', and made my way to the newest addition to the 5th realm; Earth or more specifically, the world of the delicacy; humans.

So as you might have guess, what with the living in hell and being 189 years old(even from the tid-bid about humans being a delicacy), you can guess I'm not human. Actually I guess you could say I was something similar at one point, but from all all the turning I've become the true demon of hell. And ideal image, and idol, if you will, of what all residents of the underworld are supposed to be.

Once again, though, that is all behind me.

As I slid my coat up over my dress shirt, I grabbed my cane and tapped at the souls of the shoes. I started for the doorway before my maid stopped me. She ran up and pulled my tie up higher. She flashed me a smile and straighten out my suit.

"Well don't you look all clean and spiffy!" She said, her hands on her hips.

"I'm not in too good of a mood...I don't really feel like talking.." I mutter.

"Well you're always not in a good mood." The way she smiled after that, even brighter than before, ticked me off.

"Smile every once in awhile, this is your engagement party. And on your day of birth, no less." She told me.

"Right, and I'm sure you know what it's like to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, don't you? That feeling of being caged it?" I took one of her black pig-tails and twirled her hair in my fingers.

"Something like that...Being high and middle-class demons we never really had a choice on our future..." She looked away, patting me on the shoulder.

"Alright you're all ready. Go out there are get some girls!"

"Girls are stupid."

"Now, now, stop with the aptitude."

This girl is Rukia Kuchiki, former heiress to the Kuchiki Clan and current head-maid of my estate. She; along with a few other demons, who where especially idiotic and felt in debt to me for paying off whatever debt they had to someone else, followed me. This is how I got my new cleaning crew for my new home.

It has been 10 years since I came to this world; the world of humans. It's not very entertaining. The only good thing about it is the food. Humans scurry around here like nobody's business! Course, when I used my abilities to create this castle on an open field, the villagers suddenly got scared and didn't come up here. I didn't know then, but human don't have powers. So as it turns out my home was suddenly declared "haunted" which brings be to where I am now. It's kinda like being at one of my cottages because nothing happens. I stay at my estate, get called to hell to do some sort of work, come back, and repeat the process. I was hoping coming here would prevent me from being in hell but it seems like I'm still in it! If I had something to do, I wouldn't go to hell, but there's nothing for me to do.

My estate is in the style of the west and is perched high on the top of a hill that was once called "the peek of ages". It was somewhat modeled after my old home, though I made it much smaller, and less flashy. It had the standard 10ft stone wall- 3ft thick with a 20ft iron gate. With help from blueprints of the castles and churches in Britten and France, I built my estate in the modern arch design. The windows where large and the front doors where quite large and made of cherry wood. The inside of the estate was quite "luxurious" as some would say. Marble columns, stairs, and floor. Red drapes for the large windows. Velvet, pillows on the Victorian-style couches. All in all, I could make a living, but if something interesting didn't happen, I didn't intend to stay in the human world for too long. It was too bright here, and the lack of spirit energy in the air makes me feel weak.

I grab my white gloves and slip them on up over my hands, testing their tightness by gripping my hands in fists. I shake my gelled-down hair out to its normal spikiness and shake off the irritating feeling of being choked by a black tie and having to where a top hat; even the feeling off my gloves was somewhat bothering. I suppose I was just looking for any excuse not to go to this party. This is where demons, vampires, soul pipers, whatever demonic monster you can think of that's of the female sex, throws themselves at me.

I hate the look in their eyes as they talk to you, that hopelessness saying they don't want to even be associated with you, but their parents are forcing them to. With any luck one of those girls will be picked to be my fiance and the future queen of hell. Really it's not luck though..It sucks for them, and it always sucks for me. We never get a saying on our on destiny the mediocre and the aristocratic demons have no freedom because in order to keep their position, they have to stay close knit and prevent themselves from being bumped to the low demon society and forced to act like animals, feeding on their own kind to survive. That's why I hated that world, it was pressuring, boring, and everyone lied to you so obviously.

One of the butlers opened the doors and in the pail moonlight I could see the endless trees lined up along the road the went on for another mile before reaching the gate. There was only one moon in this world and it was either small or far off. It also went through "phases" unlike our two moons which where always the same(the two moons in hell reminded me of circles with little circles cut into them, much like the crescent moon on the Earth, just the edges of the crescent wrap around and touch.)

As I walked toward the carriage that took me to the portal to hell, I came across a puddle. My shoe barely touched the water and it rippled slightly. The water in this world was also so..Pure. So much so that I could make out my reflection even when it was tainted with dirt.

My white hair was half back to normal, my spiky hair was both squished down by my top hat, and flattened by the gel, though it still managed peek out underneath the hat and above my ears. My blue/teal eyes reflected the moonlight and glowed. The one bare source of spirit energy in this world came from the moon. And every night my eyes would glow to meet that energy, it was gasping for it, it was as if there was a warning by the brightness of my eyes that said I was weakening, I needed more spirit energy then the light of the moon could offer. The people in the town called me "the ghost of little the baron" apparently people thought I was a baron which is completely demoting. I'm a grand duke. And I'm not little! Ok..I admit it, I'm 4.4 but that's normal for my age in my species of demon! Speaking of which; the species I belong to are the arch ice angels.

The street lights had not been lit yet so the lawn look especially ominous; reminds me of home. I load into the carriage and without a moments hesitation, without the world stopping to give a second to breath perhaps my last breath of "bachlorism", the carriage takes off into the night. Great, just beautiful. Will the world just give me a break?

The stars in the sky blurred together, or maybe that was like the dark matter belt in hell... It was a blob of light, sparkly stuff behind the glinting stars... What was that, what was in this sky? There was a lot that was interesting about this world..But I didn't come here to go to school or to learn, I came here to stay away from hell, yet I'm going back right now, if I just had a reason to revolt, and reason that was so rule-breaking and unacceptable they'd have to let me be until they come up with something to push me back into submission. If only there was a spark that would let me break away.

The red interior of the carriage was just the perfect blood-red to set my own blood boiling. I remembered last night when the chefs served me pure, genuine, human blood. Who knows where they got it, but it made my mouth water thinking about it. The taste was better than anything found in hell. And I suppose it's only natural seeing as the delicacies in another world would be totally different and beyond comparison to that of your world... The soft feel to the fabric made me think of what the maids told me, drinking blood from a cup is nothing like taking it from the animal it came from. And I'm not sure if that was something good or bad...

Then suddenly the carriage came to a halt. I unlatched the door and stepped out, taking my two open fingers and adjusting my hat.

"Driver, is there anything the matter?" I ask.

"There's a little something at the gate." The driver tells me.

I step around the carriage and tilt my head at the sight. This little thing with pudgy little butt with stubby legs and chubby cheeks crawled around on the ground near the gate. It had black toughs of hair in pigtails on its head. It had dark blue eyes and its little hands played with the dirt. A plain which baby shirt and bloomers and bare footed... It was abandoned at my gate..It must've slipped through the gaps in iron gate. It was a tiny thing, looked no older than 5 months, and I could smell it too, even from way back where I was standing, the stench of a human.

* * *

I kicked through the front door with my foot again. All my maids, lounging on my couches, and the butlers, leaning so casually over the stair, flirting with other maids, jumped up at the sight of me and lined up in two parallel lines.

"Welcome back young master." They all said.

"You're back early master, may I take your co-" Rukia was the first to look up and she gasped, everyone else, upon looking up, gasped as well.

Hanging on my cane/staff, was the little creature/human from before. Hanging from the bloomers, the little thing was fascinated by how it was hanging in the air, it tried the crawl in place and then it looked up at everyone in the room.

"A-a human! Young master-" Rukia gasped.

Everyone backed away as I instructed, "Bring a blanket and see to it that the child is taken care of."

Rukia motioned for a butler and he went to retrieve the instructed. A young girl pushed through the crowd of maids and began, "I love babies!" And as she reached out from the crowd to touch the baby, I pulled the human away and Rukia swatted her had back.

"My apologizes, young master, this is a newly hired maid fresh from the underworld, she knows nothing of the human world." Rukia bows and then turns around the face the girl, she puts her hands on the girl's shoulders and says, "Look here, Ayame, that baby you where about to touch was a human. We cannot touch humans."

The girl seemed perplexed and Rukia specified, "Have you ever been brought flowers from the human world?" The girl nods, "What happens when we demons touch flowers?"

"The wilt and.." The girl suddenly realizes.

"Do you hear me, everyone?" Rukia begins in her assertive voice. She gazes around at all the maids, "We mustn't touch the baby or our demonic energy will kill it. This is why young master Hitsugaya is carrying it so carefully."

Carefully? I just picked it up with my cane cause I thought it was gross. Why would I want the stench of human on my suit?

"But master Hitsugaya is wearing gloves! Doesn't that stop the flow of his demonic energy to the baby?" The girl, Ayame, asked.

"Master has high demonic energy being a grand Duke, gloves cannot possibly mask his demonic energy, it might masks ours, but not his. Speaking of which, everyone go put on gloves and test to see if they mask your demonic energy by touching a flower!"

* * *

Snap, Snap. Rubber gloves slap on and come off. Some maids and butlers killed the flowers even if they had the gloves on, some need two pairs of gloves on top of the other to mask the aura. But all in all, we managed to pull together enough people to care for the child.

Ayame apparently had weak energy because she needed on one pair of gloves, she took the baby off my cane and gently placed it on the blanket set on the rug in the sitting room. I sat far away from the thing as the adoring maids peered over the thing. I put my hand on the arm rest and crossed my legs. Then I sat and watched the children look at the little baby. The baby looked back with wide eyes and then it burst into tears, screaming and wailing. Everyone jumped back in surprise. The shrieking from the little thing annoyed me SO much.

I focused on my demonic energy and tried to steer it to the souls of my feet. Instantly the ground below me cracked under the pressure. I'll fix that later. Now with the gloves on on top of that..I should be able to...I took a flower out of the vase near me and it didn't wilt. Just to be sure I pick up another. Then when I was definitely certain I walked over to the screeching child and grabbed it by the collar of its shirt and lifted it up. The little thing was curled up In a little ball and still crying.

"Oh shut up, you spoiled brat!"

And instantly the little thing was quiet and it looked at me with it's red, puffy eyes. It looked at me for a long time until finally it seemed as though it decided what it though about me. A genuine smile broke across its face. Not one anyone has ever given me. There was no purpose behind it except to express happiness. Not to charm, or infatuate, no secret meaning. Just a bright smile.

"What is this thing, stupid?" I say as the child tries to reach toward me and I pull it back.

It made a cooky, weird laugh and then smiled again. What was this thing?

* * *

As the child lay in a little cradle I made with my abilities. As Rukia took the little curtains and pulled then over the little girl.(yeah, we found out it was a girl when we washed it..)

Rukia turned to me afterward and began, "You know we can't keep it, it's against the rules,"

I sigh, "You think I want to keep that head ache? I'll just give it to an orphan-" Then it dawns on me, "Wait, it _is_ against the rules! In that case, Rukia start a live conference with the elders, tell them it's an emergency."

"What are you scheming?" She asks.

"You don't need to know," I say

When Rukia comes with the conference ball she shines the screen on the wall. A lower-level elder is seen on the screen.

"Hitsugaya, something tells me this isn't an emergency."

I laugh, "Not really, but if I didn't say that I wouldn't be able to reach you. I'd have to file an appointment for 10 years in the future. I'm just giving you an update on where I'll be residing from now on."

"Oh brilliant! I knew this adolescent stage wouldn't last long! Are you ready to come back to the underworld?" He says, smirking a bit. Almost saying, _I knew this wouldn't last long_.

"On the contrary, Mr...Elder number 1," his lip twitched by the nickname I gave him. Must be really rude not to remember the highest demon, an elder's, name. I started again, "This human child here, I will raise. And when its life comes to an end, then I will consider returning to hell."

Calling the underworld "hell" probably ticked him off but he managed to ignore it and focus on the main aspect of the sentence. The grand duke, successor to the demon thrown, raising a child, and a human child no less.

"But that is not permitted, Grand Duke Hitsugaya, you can't-"

"Bye, bye now!" I say, turning the projector off.

Rukia sighs and walks over to me, "You're a little deviant brat."

I don't respond, but I'm smiling because I know I've just outsmarted the elders, they never thought I'd do something like this.

Rukia leans over the cradle and says, "So what are you going to name her?"

"It needs a name?"

Rukia comes up to me and slaps the back of my head, she then bows, "I apologize, but you deserved that."

"What are we going to name it then." I say, rubbing the back of my head.

"Oh and she's not an _'it'_ she's a _her._" She says.

"Isn't there a new harvest in the field today? You know, the human food we don't need?" I ask

"Well yeah, why?"

"What's the crop's name?"

"Yeah, the Quince...Why?" Rukia asks.

"Just name her Karin then, isn't that the Japanese symbol for it?"

"You're going to name her something so meaningless?" Rukia asks.

"Oh be quiet, it shows something about the day she was found. What season it was or whatever. Just name her that!" I say.

"Well then fine, It's Karin." Rukia rolls her eyes.

I turn around and walk out the door, right before hand Rukia asks me, "Master Hitsugaya, may I speak bluntly?"

I stop at the doorway and mutter, "what?"

"Please do not take this offensively, but you're still just a child. How do you expect to raise a human properly?"

I laugh, "I don't. This is merely a distraction for the elders so I can have a few decades off of life as a grand duke. I could care less about that little retarded looking creature."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

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**~*RukiaRocks*~**


	2. Blood

Blood

"You will address me as Hitsugaya-sama or young master. Nothing more." I say, impatiently.

She puts her hands on her hips and squints her eyes, "I'll call you whatever I want seeing as you never even give me the time of day. Why should I respect you when you never do the same!"

"Because I was the one who found you and raised you, taking my precious time to educate you in the process, if it wasn't for me you'd be in one of those orphanages," I say.

"And that's the only good thing you've done! You won't even teach me yourself, you hire tutors. Hell! You won't even touch me!" She snaps.

"We've been through this a thousand times, demons can't touch humans,"

"I don't believe you because you've never even tried!"

"That's the point," I said.

"Then what about that time I was a baby and you picked me up?" She asked.

"You where annoying me, so I reduced my demonic energy and focused it to my feet so that I could pick you up and shut your mouth,"

"Why can't you do that again?" She yelled.

"Quick pestering me, like I'd go to such links for the likes of you," I sigh.

"Oh quit it with that crap! I can't change who I am!"

"How do you know, you've never tried," I say smiling.

She looked away and muttered, "Some things are instinctively know to be unreachable."

"I rest my case, then." I open my book, put on my glaces, and begin to read.

I glance up at her. She's balled her hands into fists and her nose has crinkled up, her face plastered with that stupid look of anger across her face.

I sigh and take my glaces, fold them up, stick them in my pocket, and close my book.

"What exactly do you want from me," I asked, irritated.

She opens her mouth to say something, but then her anger faded, "I just want you to pay attention to me, at least more than you do now...Which isn't squat,"

"Why would I pay any attention to the likes of you? I raised you to get away from my duties, you know that,"

"Why...Why do you hate me so much?" She exclaimed.

"Oh stop being dramatic, I'm always like this!"

"You're the one who's being dramatic, asking me to call you respectfully as if you're my father!" She responded.

"I am, I raised you!"

"The maids and butlers raised me, not you! And besides, we're the same height! Not to mention I'm more mature than you!"

"I'm 189 years older than you! Don't feed me that crap! And more mature? Honestly, of you where more mature, why is it you want me to pay attention to you instead of being independent," I snapped back.

"Why is it you're always like this, Toshiro?" She asked.

"Rukia!" I called.

The said person walked into the room and bowed. "Your orders, young master?"

"Keep her occupied for now, I don't have the time to mess around,"

Rukia turns to her and begins, "Let's go then, Hitsugaya-sama needs some time,"

"You're just like a pet, following orders so free and instinctively without a second thought," She sneered.

"Now, now, insulting me isn't going to make me stop," Rukia took her hand and pulled her out of the room. Behind her she pulled doors shut, as the butlers rushed up to help her push them, she mouthed at me, "you jerk".

I was stunned by this and gave her a odd look.

After the doors had shut I took my two fingers and massaged my temples. Ah, raising a child, even if you're not the one actually doing it, is so annoying. That thing has lived a miniscule 11 years and is trying to pass off that she's anywhere near an equal with me. She's getting in the habit of calling me 'Toshiro' now as well. Just because demons age differently and I happen to take on the appearance of a 12 year old does not me we are on the same standards.

Such a brat, I wonder if all humans are that way or if somewhere, caught up in her raising, that child I found, was warped to the point of my insanity. I remember people saying she was a 'hell of a birthday present' so I suppose I found her on my birthday...But now it seems like I can't even remember her name...Whatever we where growing in the greenhouse at the time..That's what we named her after...What where we growing? Strawberries? Blueberries? Or did I name her after a bug in the garden...Hell did I even name her?

A few moments later I get a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"You know who," ...Rukia

"I'm not in the mood for your preaching," I say.

"Well I'm not in the mood to preach," She opened the door and invited herself in.

"I mean no disrespect, captain, but you are not tolerating this girl at all. Frankly you're treating her like dirt. And hence, you're acting like a spoiled child," she said,

"I am a child, remember. And I ran away from hell to be one," I sigh.

"Then why do you insist on being this girl's father figure instead of her friend?"

My eyes widened, she'd caught me off guard.. I began weakly, "Because our status and species are different and she is obligated to address me that way.."

"Now you see, you're contradicting yourself. You came to the world of humans to act like a child and to relinquish your duties and in essence your title. Yet you refuse to give up your title and you don't even know, nor do you try, to act like a child."

"I am trying, why else would I leave-"

"Because you're selfish and seek only for your gratification. If you really did care you would be out there right now playing with that child. Whatever you are to Karin will be decided on your aptitude and your actions toward her at this age. If you're any sort of man or child you'll get out there and act like one!" She rose her voice almost aggravatingly and took a deep breath. (hey! I remember now! The girl's name was Karin! We where growing the Quince!)

She bowed again and began, "That is all I have to say,"

She excused herself from the room and quietly slipped through the doors. I was being assured ,by her look as she walked out, that I was not going to be disturbed again. I looked down at the book in my hands. Maybe reading books like Emma and The Scarlet Letter where not the way to become more like a child. Or better said, to get my childhood back. It won't be long before I am engaged to someone I don't know. Even though I missed the meeting just a short 11 years ago, my court ministers will soon take action and match me up with another aristocrat who compliments me in both public appearance and status. I ran away to try and get some time for myself before I'd be swiped away and put either in front of a desk or a crowd for the rest of me life. I also came here to gain what I had lost being a prodigy and being born of royal blood; a childhood.

But of course, since I had no childhood, where would I learn how to act like a child? So then what Rukia is telling me is that the human I took in can have two purposes; keeping my court and the elders tied up with the media and to teach me how to be a child. Of course it's ludicrous to think a demon like me would ever think of a human as a child. But then...Now I sound prejudice...

I set the book down on the table and sigh.

"You said you weren't going to preach..." I chuckled..

Sometimes it's like you're more of a friend or a mother than a servant. But it's only natural since we're only 51 years apart in age. I wonder then..Why you seem so much more knowledgeable than me. What made you give up your heritage as an heiress to the great Kuchiki Clan? Sometimes I wonder just what your story is...My dear, Rukia-senpai.

I run my fingers through my hair and sigh. Will it always be this way? It's as if, in this new world, I'm not a prodigy, I'm not adored, I'm just normal.. Corrected often, treated as expected...It's a new experience for me. Will I always be outsmarted? I think it's intriguing though, finally something I have no control of. Finally a life unexpected.

Standing up and walking toward the door, my butler and maid begin to open it for me as I begin to take off my coat. In the heat of mid-day, I probably don't want to be wearing a suit. I had off my coat to the maid on the other side of the door and walk out toward the courtyard.

"Shouldn't you wear shorts if you plan to go outside, Hitsugaya-sama?" The maid asks, taking my coat away. It was as if she knew where I was going.

I sighed, "Would a kid wear it?"

"Well certainly so!" She smiled, looking up from he bow a bit.

* * *

"Young master, this is the first time you've ever worn shorts, am I correct?" A maid asked.

"That's right," I reply.

"Then may I say, this is with no disrespect, You look soooo cute!"

I look at myself in the mirror..._Not really_, I felt like saying...I just look...Casual, carefree..Like a child I suppose. They had changed me into a white button down shirt with short sleeves. The shorts where plaid and green, stretching down to just bellow my knees; the suspenders where black.

I twist my cheap look shoes on the ground and mess with the suspenders clenching to my shirt. For the first time the clothes where actually quite..comfortable..

"So then, where is that girl..What was her name again, something to do with a garden crop..." I mumbled.

"Karin-Chan was in the courtyard but I believe her tutor for math came in a few minutes ago, today she will be covering algebra intro-"

"Please excuse the tutor for me and give them my best regards and apologizes, I am removing the human from her studies for about an hour," I say.

The maid seems a bit surprised by what I say but she does signal for another to go and do the said. I swear, Rukia, if this turns out to be a waist of my time...

"Send her to the courtyard," I say

_It has been 11 years since the day I found the child_, I thought while walking out to the courtyard, _how many times has she complained to me every time I see her? "Why won't you touch me?", "Why do you hate me?", "Why the hell do you treat me like dirt". That girl is just ridiculous, the fact she has no regard for my status or our different species. I dominate her so it's only expected of me to act that way. But then..That's in the underworld, the world of aristocrats is different from that of the innocent, ignorant, lives of children._

I walked out into the heat of the day and shielded my eyes protectively from the intense light. Demons can either love light and heat or hate it. I'm one of those who hate it. My specific species, that of the arc angel, are divided into two categories, that of the feathered and the leathered. Basically those with the traditional wings of an angel and those with those of a bat. From there we are separated into our elements. In most species of demon it's normally something like dark or light magic depending on it's style(another word for how it kills).

For example: Slowly torturing your victim is dark and an instant, painless death after hearing a demon's song is light. My species, however, is very refined and actually only has the basics. We can control the elements of air, water, earth, and fire. There are sub-categories beneath each element, it is rare for someone of my species not to control just an element, but a sub-element, so that's why I was so special.

I was a genius and on top of that I was under the water element as the sub-element of Ice. My wings as well where something to be desired. I was put under leathered, however, I don't have your standard garden variety, black, bat wings that you see on vampires or something. My wings are made of ice and they can grow and shrink with the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. Essentially, I should be put under an entirely new category myself...But you know how the higher ups are...Never change for one person and never will.

My species happens to work like this: All arc angels under sub-elements and of the element of fire love the sunlight. Air and Earth are mutual, and water and all of its sub-elements hate sunlight. Some people believe it's because fire and water are opposites that this occurred and it kinda makes sense; fire, the sun, they get along. Water, the sun, when you think of the sun you think fire, fire doesn't go with water, see the picture?

"Toshiro?" I heard from the doorway.

I look up from my deep thought and begin, "It's Hits-" but then I stop myself, "Come and sit."

When she walks up out from the corner and for the first time I considered her. Long shorts, to the center of her thighs that where sown up at the bottom. A some-what half way blouse and button down shirt with 3 buttons at the top left undone. No belt, shirt not tucked in, careless posture that's effortlessly cool and slouched. Her short hair had grown a bit from the last time I bothered to look, just barely touching her shoulders now. It was not put up and curled like regular girls, as usual, but something was different. Why is she dressed like a guy!

I began to sip some tea that the maid had brought me but as soon as I saw what she was dressed in I spit it all out and choked up.

"W-what?" She began.

"Did I raise a boy?" I asked, mockingly.

"Kill me if my style suddenly bothers you. But look-y here, someone trying to look a little more like their age, Young Master," She snickered back.

She walked over and flopped down on her chair, careless flinging her leg over the other. The way she crossed her legs was arrogant, not like women would do in a polite, subtle way. She called out loudly for the maid even though they where right next to her.

"Tea?"

"No thanks." She replied.

She's going to be irritating. And it looks like she basically blew off everything we talked about earlier. She was very fickle, I suppose.

"So then, I can guess you probably pulled me out of class to do something, so spit it out." So snappy.

"I need to educate myself by experiencing the genuine life of a child. I never did experience a childhood because of my status in the-"

"Bla, bla, bla, bla! So basically you want me to show you how to be a kid?" She asks.

I nod. She's so rude. But I have to hold it in. If she wants me to pay more attention to her, she'll definitely have to accept.

"Look, is this a request or a command? Depending on your answer will decide mine," She says.

"It's a request," I say. Obviously if I said it was a command she'd struggle. I can already see through such a shallow personality. She's arrogant.

"Then make it sound like one," She says, crossing her arms.

I begin, a bit irritated, "Can you please help me," I struggle to find the right words...So I kinda just blurt out, "become a child?"

"Sure. But on one condition," a smile comes across her face.

I'm quiet for her to continue, "Let's let me call you Toshiro from now on. No more complaints."

I bit my lip. How dare she! Our status is- calm. You're just contradicting yourself again; act like a child. You can't have both status and a carefree life.

"Sure..." I mumble, looking away.

She stands up and walks toward the open doorway, "I've got to get cleaned up then," she sighs, "I hate going out,"

"Going out?" I ask.

"Our first lesson will be on how a child reacts in the city." She smiles a bit, "Bring your wallet with you, would ya?"

And just as I'm about to say something she darts out of the room and I can hear her screaming at the maid, "Get a bath ready!"

How does she intend to make it so that no kids bumb into me? If I touch anyone in the city they'll die, she know that.. So why.

Suddenly a sharp scream runs through the air. I don't exactly know what's going on but it sounds like it's full of terror.

Rukia stumbles outside and begins with a fright, "I think we should get a doctor, something happened, and there's the scent of blood."

I hear that sharp scream again and hold one my ears closest to the sound in hopes of blocking out some of the shrieks. This sound..I've hear it before..It's so nostalgic and annoying. It's so very annoying...How do I plan to do anything with the scream sounding.

I get up and follow the sound, ignoring the warnings from Rukia. It leads all the way to the bathroom. That girl, how long does she plan to put me on the edge? Mark my words I will have her put in a female etiquette class if she keeps this

up. On of the maids rushed up to me and begins, "There's blood, not a lot of it, but we should probably dismiss all the staff from the area so as to not let them get attracted to the scent, Hitsugaya-sama."

"Has she been bitten?" I asked.

"No, thankfully, the maids in the bathroom say it was only an injury to the legs," Another maid begins.

The screaming gets louder. And the worst part is it's not asking for anything. It's just like her smile gone wrong. When she smiles, she does not ask for charm or interest, she just smiles. When she screams, she does not call out the name of a savior, nor does she scream to want something. All it is is a horrifying scream the echos in silence. It's just there to be heard. And it has no purpose.

Without warning I storm through the doors to the bathroom on instinct. It doesn't matter if she's not asking for help, it matters what she needs. Or better yet, what I need. This sound is annoying, and it's as if it scares me a bit. It makes me feel hopeless beyond belief.

When I gaze around the large room paved in white tiles, there's warm mist in the air that drifted off from the bath. When it some what clears I can see four of my maids crowding around something. And when one of them turns and sees me they dismiss me saying, "Hitsugaya-sama, you must not be in here while the child is bathing."

That didn't make sense. If the girl was injured they would've welcomed me with open arms. Unless the scent of a human's blood was too strong for them and they're common sense failed; they would've planned to eat her. Then they'd have make up a lie to get me away. And if that's the case...

I take the maid's arm and twist it behind her back. As for it not to break, she leans down instinctively to save it from cracking. I then have a clear view of the back of her neck and I take my hand and jab the pressure point below the trapeziums, succeeding in knocking her out. I make my way toward the crowd of maids. When I shove my way through, I can tell they've abandoned their senses. They where on the verge of devouring the human. Speaking of which, she was curled up, her knees to her face, screaming over and over again. Obviously, she wasn't wearing any clothes.

I walked over to her and grab eight pairs of the maid's gloves from the box on the counter. I slap them on all at once and focus my energy to my feet again. Immediately the floor below me caves in under the pressure. I just got this floor done, too. I take the girl up in my hands and face my maids, still staring at me with their half demon, half human appearances. All of them where beginning to show their fangs as they decided what to do. They had definitely lost their minds if they thought to challenge me. This girl must be something like their prey...They didn't intend me to have her.

"I'm getting rather irritated," I begin. By now, the girl has stopped screaming and she's just looking at me. She won't stop either.

"Stand aside or I'll blow you all to hell, literally!" I narrowed my eyes a bit and released some of the demonic energy I have. The maids, in an instant, flocked away. I called for others to detain them while they regain their consciousness. And I also call for someone to call a doctor. We always have to get doctors from out of town because all the others think we're just a whole bunch of ghosts in this mansion.

This girl was not limp from blood loss, but whatever happened either because of her injury or because of the maids led her the clench onto me and she wouldn't let go. Her black hair, soaked with water, seemed to look like black blood at this point. When compared to her pain skin, the locks of hair drizzling over her shoulders seemed to give me an strange feeling. And when I scanned down from her hair I caught a sight of her blood on the right side of her thigh. That was just enough to make me realize. The scent of her blood was unbelievable intoxicating.

I bit my lip hard as to not let my fangs out. I could taste my own blood coming from the wound I had created on my lip. This scent was different from the blood you buy in a bottle, now I see my the maids said it was different taking blood from the human itself. They're fragile, frail things but their scent is intoxicating, just because of it, we'll drink them dry even when unnecessary. That's why with blood in bottles, they dilute the scent so that demons won't go mad.

She seemed so vulnerable as she held on tight to my shirt, he water from her hands soaking through the cloth. I could feel my eyes deepening in color and my body pulsing, it was changing modes. And if I wasn't careful, I'd loose my control just like the maids did. Only it's not too pretty when it loose control. My eyes, by now, had turned red, I could tell because the shade around everything I saw was red. Will I be weakened so easily by the sight of a human? Why is it at this point I'm so..Attracted to her. No, I'm attracted to her blood, right?

I looked away from her quickly. She held on tighter to my shirt and my eyes slid back to her.

I set her down on her bed. We can't do anything as demons to help her. We need a human doctor to tell us what's wrong because demons do not know how human bodies work. We regenerate a lot faster, not to mention the fact everyone here is a demon and no one can help her. If she really isn't that hurt she can survive.

When I scan down her body laying down of the bed, I don't see any cuts at all. Just a continuous watery flow of blood traveling down her legs.

"How long do you intend to look at me while I'm naked," She began.

"Don't make it sound like that, I'm checking you for wounds," I replied.

"All of you are idiots, aren't you. I'm not injured. I was trying to tell the maids that but when they where looking for the wound, they caught too much of a scent and...Well yeah, I didn't know that's how demons where when,"

"They're out of controls." I finished.

"It doesn't hurt to pick me up, does it? Not so bad touching me this time, right?" She smiled a bit.

"This situation was different. Don't expect it to be the norm," I inform.

"You don't seemed to be affected at all by the sight of a naked girl," She laughed.

"When you've lived for 200 years, I naked body does affect you." I said.

"Then why do you keep looking away?" She grinned.

I blushed, "Because of your blood, not because of that."

"Right. As if a great demon like you could loose control so easily," I almost did actually.

"Hitsugaya-sama, the doctor is here," I hear from the other side of the bedroom door.

"Bring him in," I state.

* * *

"Well it's no surprise since you have maids here, they should've told you," The doctor began.

"The girl is starting her menstrual cycle. Congratulations, she's now officially a woman. Let your parents know that she is now eligible to marry."

My eyebrows raise, so now I'm her brother? I can't loose face in front of a human, though, because they wouldn't understand.

"Explain it to me more, what is 'cycle' is," I tell him.

"Well I think I shouldn't be the one to tell you, perhaps your parents-"

"We have no parents," This was partially a lie and partially true, "The maids have been raising us since our parent's death at sea. Now then, since I am the eldest, I am the owner of this estate and you are in-titled to tell me."

He sighs and sits down on a stool and invites me over.

"Sit down son, this'll be a while,"

* * *

"What?" I asked in dismay, "I'm sorry, did you say it comes once a month?"

"Yes, and essentially, it enables a woman to have children. People sometime call it a cycle or period. It lasts for a weak," He says.

"Blood...Once a month? You mean this'll happen once a month?" I asked again.

"Yes, is everything all right?" The doctor asked.

"You may leave now," I dismiss him.

"You where listening, right, Rukia? Break the news to the human and the staff. Also, by magic to dilute the scent of blood. This is going to be a rough ride,"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**How'd you like it? Review Review Review!**

**Reviewers to thanks:**

**Tobiyuki**

**KKH913**

**FuyuKiba**

**Blueberry Absinth**

**Turtle-chan in Blueberries**

**HitsuKarin-sama**

**meggie-moo s**

**p.s. In regards to my story being similar to a manga...I forgot which was mentioned...This story is purely from my head and I did not copy it not will I ever copy any idea. Thanks,**

**Love ya,**

**~*RukiaRocks*~**


	3. Deadly

Deadly

"Hey Toshiro," She said, a bit loopy-headed.

"What," I say. She had better not complain about any of this anymore.

"Go fuck yourself!" She slammed the soup in my face.

* * *

_80 seconds earlier_

"So this is what they call a mood swing.." I say, dodging and pot.

"No, no, no! I want soup!" I heard Karin scream from her room.

"That was soup, Karin-Chan," Rukia says.

"I'll consider it that when Toshiro feeds me it!" She wails.

"That brat.." I mumble. How dare she..

"Hitsugaya-sama," Rukia turns back to me, "She hasn't eaten at all since this morning...Please!" She gives me her begging look.

She hands me some gloves and I swipe them away impatiently.

"Thank you!" She says, smiling.

I sigh and slap the gloves on. Why is it she's always asking me to do these stupid favors. I seize the new bowl of soup away from a maid in the doorway and walk into Karin's room. She'd buried herself in her bed and kicked over her lamp. All her pillows where cradled around her and in the corner where piles of bloody sheets. Can't she stop pouting and get up enough to not ruin another?

My eyes suddenly darted back to the sheets. I could feel my confidence slipping away. I wasn't doing this for a favor. No, I came in here to test myself. I can't hold back, as I thought. That scent, the scent of blood is too..

"Rukia, where's that scent diluting potion I told you to get?" I asked.

"Sorry sir, things like that are hard to come by now a days and I just didn't have the time," She says.

I almost keel over when she assures me there's no way to get rid of this feeling.

"Hitsugaya-sama, is everything alright?" Rukia asks.

"Why is it you're not affected by the scent?" I replied.

"Well I don't take human blood, sir. My species of demon feeds of the lesser of other species." She explains.

"Right then..." I say.

This is going to be tougher than I thought. I wince, trying to keep back whatever was pushing my control over my body to its limits. Why is it? Why is it my control can be shattered so easily?

"Is that Toshiro?" Karin yells from beneath her pillows.

"You better eat this now," I mutter. And for the first time..I realize what I'm going to have to do. Why am I the maid? How did I get in this situation again?

Karin, in a split moment, pops out from her den of fluff, with her mouth open, "Ahhhh!" She says, like a child. Now she's expecting me to feed her? Wasn't I suppose to just bring it to her?

I glance back at Rukia, peering out from behind the doorway. She shoos me to continue what I'm doing. I sneer, but.. I can't do anything about it now. I take the soup and...Wait..How the hell am I supposed to feet it to her?

I try to position myself on the bed, but can't exactly find the right way to sit. Finally I settle and set the bowl in between my legs. Rather oddly, I balance the liquid in the spoon and bring it up to the girl's mouth.

When she looks at me, and sees how hard I'm concentrating on the liquid,(but I'm really just trying to keep away from her scent) she mutters to me, "Toshiro?" A bit loopy-headed.

"What?" I ask, irritated.

"Go fuck yourself!" She snaps as she grabs the bowl of soup and shoves it in my face.

As a demon, of course that heat(of the soup on my face) was nothing compared to that of hell's summers.

"Did I do something wrong," I say, pissed off. I'm gritting my teeth as the maids chuckle and hand me a towel.

"No sir...Once again, probably another example of those mood swings..But," Rukia walked into the room and whispered into my ear what Karin told me; or better said, what it meant. And when she'd explained, my eyes widened.

"Who taught her those words?" I questioned in astonishment.

Rukia shrugs and smiles, "You should watch your little girl closer," she winked and laughed.

I get up and walk over to the washroom. Immediately the maids swamp me and begin to undress me.

"I can't believe I have to put up with this once a month," I whisper.

"Why don't you get rid of the human if she's such a bother?" Someone suggests.

"I agree. That smell is beginning to get to me..." Another began.

I glanced away. But I can't, that way I'd be backing out. Just because her scent is a difficult obstacle doesn't mean I'll take the easy way out!

When I go back near her room again, there's no more screaming and when I glance inside her room, she's sound asleep. Finally knocked out?

I walk into the room and find the maids have already cleaned her room an taken the sheets away. Most of the maids with high demonic energy are the only ones who can tolerate her scent and the blood. But even I, have trouble keeping my true form inside. With time, I might be able to tolerate blood better, but seeing as this is my first experience with it..I find it very hard..

Her scent is all over this room and the dull iron smell of blood is still in the air. I wonder..How it is something so powerless and fragile could bring me to my knees...Could make me feed them...Could turn me into their slave..Heh, it's interesting.

As I sit down in the chair up against the wall near her bed, I spot it, that waver of color. Like the water vapor dissipating in the hot summer day..It was..No.

I walk up to her, and in the blackness of her hair I could still see it, that halo of purple. And that's when I noticed, her eyes where flickering back and forth and finally, she was sweating...

I called a maid and told them that she was sick. And as they began to call a doctor I stopped them.

"Gather all the maids and butlers together," I began, "Something's wrong."

* * *

I explain the situation to Rukia and she nods, turning back to the crowd and announcing, "As you know, it was a short 11 years ago that our young master found a child at the gate. Well it seems that, as we suspected, there are demons trying to take the life of the human who allows our master to stay comfortably in the human world," She began.

"We have a demon in out midst. One that has taken possession of Karin-Chan. She is very sick now and our master says she will soon die if we do not find the culprit. The likely species of demon is a high class soul piper. They came after the human while she was weakened and implanted a fraction of their being into her. Those of you here that are soul pipers are unaffected by the blood do to the fact you do not drink it, am I correct? If so will you all go to the girl's room and suppress any progression of the fraction to her soul. The rest of you, guard the mansion carefully, who knows if there are others around!" And right after she says this, everyone gets straight to work.

"Will that distract them enough?" She asks me.

"That will suffice." I say, quietly slipping away into the halls of the first floor.

* * *

Well then I suppose we're not going into town today..I think, glancing out the window at the bright moon. This part of the hall wasn't lit because we didn't use it. Most of the places in this mansion had rooms only Karin used. The majority of the day I was out doing some sort of business, although it was apparent, no matter how many demons came along, I would never go back to hell even if they where to offer a better home in the underworld or more money. Down there is way too...Well you've already heard.

I stop in front of the window's light. A long shadow is cast near my feet.

"Quit snooping around already, did you really think you could get away with this? What's the point in hiding if you knew from the start I'd find you?" I sighed.

From the shadows surrounding either side of the faint light that the moon provided, they came together at the darkness beneath my feet and stretched up along the door behind me. From out of the shadows, a figure began to form from the darkness. And she steadily brought color to her appearance and stepped out in front of me.

"Oh how rude, I came here to see you. Of course, by now you've already gotten word-"

"Why did you involve the human in this, soul piper?" I asked.

She twirled her blond curls, "Why, does that bother you, Hitsugaya-sama," She teased.

I snapped, "Cut the crap and reverse the spell. You can kill humans with that sort of thing. If you metal to much I'll end up being forced to return to hell."

"You're slow, Shiro-chan. That's exactly what I want," She smiles.

"What?" I ask.

"Oh, you poor thing, the mail to the Human world must take longer," She laughs as her arms start to gain color. She then completely separates from the wall and walks over to me. She gets up in my face and giggles,

"The human is the liability. She's the only thing that keeps up from getting married right now."

My eyes widened, "What are you going on about?"

She wraps her arms around me as I neither move nor make a sound. As playful as she was being, there's no way that...

"I smell human on you...And blood too..Have you been being a gentlemen to this human? Or is she just your food. If she is I'd like to have a bite too, dear Fiance."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**So yeah, a pretty short chapter, but at least I got it done, right? I'll make it up to you guys next time. Review plz!**

**Reviewers to thank:**

**T.h.E.s.R**

**Turtle-chan in Blue **

**meggie-moo s**

**HitsuKarin-sama**

**KarinKurosakiHitsugaya913**

**Blueberry Absinth**

**Ashcat13**

**TheRedSin**

**FuyuKiba**

**Love ya,**

**~*RukiaRocks*~**


	4. Kiss

Kiss

"What does it matter to you if she dies or not. Let's go home and get married!" She insisted.

"Just tell me how to cure her," I say, slamming my hands on the table.

Karin's health..Is getting steadily worse. And even though the soul fragment inside her is small and has only been present for a few hours..She might just die within the day's last hours. Now with that in mind, I must find the method in which to extract the fragment. And only the soul piper it belongs to knows that method. And thus, I sit here with no progress..

"Oh deary me, it's like a sad love song," she begins, "Your human lover dies due to a tragic accident with one of your maids. How does that sound? A great coverup story right?"

"How dare you! Do you think they'd believe your word over mine. If you continue this it'll only be bad fo-" I began.

"Not anymore, right now I'm the same rank as you," She laughed.

"What?" A grand duchess? Like me..Who in the hell is this girl.

"A lot has changed since you left," She stood up, the chair screeching as it slid back.

"Did you know that when a demon becomes engaged to another, the higher rank of the two is adopted by the other?" She said, "In other words, before I was a lower rank than you, now I am a grand duchess, just as you are a grand duke. And since you have been away from hell..And on top of that, broken so many laws, who do think they're going to believe... The sweet, innocent little fiance...Or the juvenile delinquent who threw away his position for some girl." My eyes widened as she continued, "You poor thing, we've got you cornered. And as soon as this girl dies, you'll go home, get married, become the king. And we'll live happily ever after."

I watched as she walked silently over to the couch farthest away from me and lays down on it. She props her legs up and runs her fingers down from her neck. Slowly then, down her chest and her stomach, hip and legs.

"Come on now, you can't be disappointed by this," She ran her fingers up her thigh and played with the tip of her skirt.

I stood up and began walking out the room.

"What is she to you, that girl?" She asked.

I stop in the doorway, "If you don't give me the cure.. Then I have nothing left to say to you,"

"Fine then you stubborn mule, I'll give it to you. But you've got to answer the question like a good boy," She began.

"How do I know you'll give it to me?"

"Why wouldn't I? I could just put another fragment of my soul into her if I'm unsatisfied with your answer." She laughs.

Well this might have felt like a beautiful dream come true, an easy way out, but here's the thing; I didn't have an answer. And even if I made one up..What is the answer she's looking for...

"11 years," I began. This is where that improvisation comes in. I'll just make junk up I suppose..

"11 years I've raised that girl...Life for a human is very short and...She hasn't even gotten to go outside the estate...She hasn't seen the world," Not really that true but.. "I just want to see a human's growth and-"

"Well isn't that fatherly," She leans back on the chair and glances out the window.

"Though you'll have to be more than that to cure her.."

Does that mean she bought it? "So then you'll tell me," I say walking back into the room.

"Well of course. I'm a woman of my word." She grins and begins, "Give her a smooch. I'm sure that'll help. Of course, by my definition, that means on the lips."

What the hell is a smooch?..On the lips?...A kiss? Well why didn't she say so, that's not really a proble-

"But I'm a demon, I can't touch her." I said out loud.

"Brilliant deduction." She says, crossing her legs.

"Like I said, you're cornered. There's no way to make the fragment come out. But I must say, Hitsugaya-sama, you seem more distressed than I believed. Has the great successor fallen so low as to think a human his daughter? Or perhaps you've grown a custom to that young body of yours and actually thought her more of a partner. That expression one your face is just...hmm, what's the word? Ah, yes...Priceless." She excuses herself.

And when I look at myself in the mirror hanging up on the wall. I see what she means. I look like a...A human. I took my hand and grabbed a flower out of the vase. It crinkled and wither instantly. I gripped the blackening rose tight and watched as it faded away. What was I going to do? It's not the kiss part so much as it is the fact I cannot touch her. In my years I've been kissed by many girls, throwing themselves at me like they always do. But then I don't think I've ever been the one kissing someone else... She's going to die if I don't... I slam my hands on the counter. Damn it! Why am I so helpless?

And then there's the fact about my rank...Something is happening in hell..Something very odd. Even though I've done this much, my position as successor and grand duke would still put me higher than my fiance.

She mentioned then, that tid bit about my appearance...And somehow it makes me think she's appalled by the form I've decided to take; my true form. Obviously she was expecting the form I take in hell; what we all take in those political meetings, our youthful adult form. She then..Is testing me. Because the form she took in front of me, was her adult form, not true. And she's testing to see how far she can bend me. Can she make me turn myself into a human using potions and kiss another? Can she make me change my form to that of my adult appearance?

Ultimately, this measures my internal strength and personality. She is already aware of my physical strength so assassinating me while I'm the king won't work. More over, she probably intends to do something different. Use all the information for the end result of a framing. She intends to try and take the thrown from me. I hate greedy bastards like her, always striving for power. They don't care about family, their clan, they do everything for themselves..But then I suppose I hate myself...

"Rukia." I call.

And out from the shadows of the room she appears. "I am assuming you've heard everything.."

She nods.

"You are also a soul piper, is there anything you can do?" I ask.

"No sir, fragments are pieces of a soul piper's spirit that are placed inside a victim. In time, it slowly eats its victims, inside out. The only way to stop this is to have greater spiritual or demonic powers than that of the fragment. Or, find the hole in every fragment to a foreign soul. It can be something simple, such as putting a hat on, or cutting their nails. It could also be something like sawing an arm off or cutting out an eye. But in this case.." She said.

"Find me a morphing potion," I begin, "Set it for human."

"Before I do that...Hitsugaya-sama?"

I let her speak, "You intend to change into a human for one you always call a nuisance.. You are contradicting yourself..So I must ask, as your fiance did; what exactly is your relationship to that girl."

"That...Is a perplexing question. Something I am yet to be able to answer." I turned my back to her and said again, "The potion, then."

She smirked, bowed, and excused herself.

I looked down at the ground. What was she to me? Well somehow I find it to be that she is nothing. She has never entered my life. Not ever. In fact, I forgot her name up until this morning..I'll probably forget it again..

My eyes darted to the door, the sliver of light that brightened the unlit room I stood in, grew bigger. Someone was watching me. I walked over to the door and seized it open, saying sarcastically, "What, _dear fiance?_"

But then I saw that it was not a girl with green eyes and curly blond hair. No, this girl was eye level with me. In a night gown, with puffy blue eyes that seemed distressed. She looked at me with her lonely eyes, her black hair all messed up from sleeping so much. She pale as snow itself..She was not fit to be up out of bed.

"You never told me you where engaged.." She said underneath her breath..

But then she shook her head and looked up at me angrily, "I would.." She began, "I would never kiss you..EVER!" She turns around and runs off.

What the hell was that about? Wait..Was she..Listening? Intruding on my business? How dare she!

I hesitate, check to see that I'm still wearing the gloves from trying to feed her the soup again, and grab her arm, stopping her from running off, "Wait, you!"

She looked away and muttered, "You don't even know my name.."

And then I saw beneath her widened stance, blood dripping down to the ground and dirtying her gown.

"You.." I begin, "Are you even wearing undergarment?"

She slaps me in the back, "How dare you ask me that!"

"How dare you peep in on other's conversations!" I retort.

She jerks her hand away and turns toward me, "I'm going to die, right..Because you won't touch me.."

I'm appalled by this question and for some reason I can't find the words to tell her... "I'll kill you if I try." I say.

"But you haven't tried.." She says.

She gets on her knees and runs her finger through the little pool of blood. She then gets up and holds the finger out, "Take the blood then..I'll believe you when you take it," She says.

I wince as the rush starts to kick in. Damn it! I was doing so well. But it was just blood in the first place, and she was offering it to me..

Then just the thought for a second, that I'd accepted wanting to take blood, made me take her hand again and pull her back to me. I could feel how weak she was from not eating, because she could only give out a faint gasp and call out my name curiously. She was asking by that, what I was doing..

"Would you rather me just suck you dry? You want death that much?" I tightened my grip on her arm and slowly wrapped my arm around her waist.

"What're you.." And and I could feel it, my fangs starting to take shape and automatically my mouth opened slightly to let them through...If only my fangs touch her, would that necessarily kill her? No wait, I can't take her blood in the first place. I won't...But why? That's right, because I won't let a human seduce me? Or is it because I want to protect her..Protect a human? Why?

I close my mouth immediately as my fang cut my lip. I pushed her away and looked far off so that I didn't catch her gaze.

"My kind would kill you and eat you if they had the chance. Don't you get it? You can't get close to me. I can't handle it..Can't handle you," And my eyes widened. That's why I push her away instinctively...I didn't want her to get close to me, to die or get hurt. But then..Why? Have I really grown that weak? Caring about other's lives? Death happens all the time in hell..So why is it that I treat her different? I just really met her this morning...

"Why can't you just trust me to handle myself?" She asks.

I don't answer. And as the silence passes over us she starts to stumble a bit and her foot slides through the blood.

"I feel a little...Light headed.." Her legs give way as she falls back.

I just barely caught her and as I tried to tap her cheek, to get her awake, I saw that she was panting now. It seems like the next stage in the fragment's process of eating her was starting. Where the hell was Rukia with that potion? I'm sure they aren't that hard to come by..Not like the scent dilution potions..

I pick her up and set her down in the bed. If Rukia isn't here soon..

* * *

up from the balcony connected to the staircase, looking down on my maids at work, all I can do is nervously tap on the wood. I can't read...I can't really do anything. Because the final stage has begun, and Karin's screams echoed through the estate; but this time I could do nothing to stop it.

The maids where not busy cleaning, they where busy bringing everything they could to make her more comfortable. Because I told them to. They brought wet towels and took away blankets full of blood and sweat. Somehow though, the screaming just wouldn't stop. Where was she?..Rukia..

Over and over I heard shrieking...And it was so real I could feel it, the pain. That was strange though. I've killed thousands and..Never felt a thing. Not even those I watched cry out for hours. And-

Then suddenly, just as it began, the sharpest silence was heard. Why, why was it that I wanted the screaming more now? It was always silence I wanted.. but now I suppose.. Damn it..

I bit my lip and looked down. And again I could taste my own blood. I couldn't comprehend it. I could do nearly anything. So then why did this girl's life slip through my fingers. Why? When I'm supposed to be a prodigy-

"Hitsugaya-sama!" The first maid to reach my runs up the stairs, her eyes a bit teary..What a disgrace, demons never cry. Not even by this. "It's a miracle!"

My eyes widen. "She.." I began.

The maid nodded over and over, "Yes, yes. She's alive!"

I followed her quickly to Karin's room where she lay very quietly, asleep on the couch. The maids, cleaning up her bed and the room. Some maids couldn't hold back against the blood and curled up far away from Karin, trying to keep sanity before they break. Some, had already broken and many maids that did not take blood hand to stuff heart rate pills down their mouths. Obviously it was quite painful, Karin's experience, because I could see maid's rubbing on their hands, some crying, some smiling. She must have been gripped their hands so hard, as his grasping on to life..

"Her expressions..The screams..They where all so..Real.." One maid whispered to the other.

So I wasn't the only one who felt that.

Death comes so quickly, it swoops down and takes its prey without hesitation. So then...I supposed it missed Karin. Perhaps because she's so small. Or perhaps because, like she said, she could handle herself. Heh, irony can be so helpful, but of course annoying as well..

* * *

"Ooo candy!" Karin said, she grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the shop nearby. Hell, now I wish she really was dead. She's making me buy crap that's completely useless!

"Oh come on, you told me to teach you," She said, glancing back at my frown.

"I didn't say buy candy..Or a dress," I say, glancing down at her bright yellow gown that she just bought at a boutique. It was laced with black thread along each edge where the yellow stopped. It was the standard antebellum dresses women where today, this one, was rather plain and the fabric often curled up, where this occurred, dots followed. The corset, was much less drafty and was actually just threaded through with black thread in a zig zag motion and tied in a bow at the end. The sleeves then, puffed out. All in all, it was some sort of dress for a young girl that reminded me of a bee...

She puffed out her lip, "I bought this for you. You told me that you raised a boy. Well this proves you wrong, right?" She turns back and puts her hands on her hips, letting me take in the full picture.

"Alright, alright, let's get this over with.." I sighed.

"Yes!" She snagged my hand and pulled me into the shop. I dodged person after person, careful not to touch them in this short sleeved shirt. All the time I wondered as I looked at the back of Karin's head. How in the world did she overcome the fragment? It wasn't taken out of her, not..I can feel the presence of it inside her, but now, it's pure. As if it was turned for her own use. So then, my Fiance didn't take it out..So then..How in the world did she manage to do that on her own power?

"Look at this lollypop, it's so decorative!"

"You're unusually preppy today.." I inform her.

"You idiot," She gives me a whack on the back, "I'm just happy to be alive is all." She smiles and keeps looking through all the sweets.

I smirk. Even though humans cannot possibly live long enough to find the meaning of life itself, the continue to grasp at it, little by little, just by enjoying the little time they've been given, that's their meaning in life. Humans milk it for what it's worth. We demons probably take it for granted.

"You shouldn't think about things so much and just have fun," I'm surprised by Karin shoving a lollipop in my mouth.

"First step to becoming a kid," She reaches up and grabs my collar. The heck was she doing? She unbuttons the shirt three times down and un-tucks it. She ruffles up my hair and grabs my top hat, preparing to throw it out into the street. I snatch it away from her and put it on. If not anything else, this stays.

"I hate the sun, this is the only thing that protects me from it!" I say, lying.

"Well then..." Karin glances around and snags a blue umbrella from a jar, "We can use this!"

My head drops, Of course. Is she stupid? We'll seem like some sort of couple then. Then again, letting her hold my hand would be..What? I'm just giving privileges to one who escaped death. It's a reward because now I don't have to go to hell. That's why I'm letting her hold me hand, right? Ah..Who know..I'm so screwed up and contradicting myself I have no idea what my true intentions are..

Karin dragged me over to a tree and beneath it, she laid out a blanket she'd been carrying the whole time. Then she went over to one of the vendors and bought food. Course a lunch, though she must know the food I must eat is different.

"I know you can still eat human food even though it does not good..So then," She hands me an apple, "Be adventurous for once in your life and eat it."

Adventurous? Is that what they call it? Obviously since I know what that warped red thing is, I've already tried it. But never the less I took the apple and bit into it. Why was I being so lenient with her? Letting her tell me what to do..Following her orders..I guess I was curious as to what it was like..After death came so close.

"Hitsugaya-sama!" I heard a voice yell. The exasperated voice, even when weakened as it was, was quite distinguishable. Rukia.

She waved a sparkling bottle in her hand, "I've got the potion!" She held up her apron and dress and ran over to me. We where to the left of the bridge, off the road, so Rukia had to run. The quirky way she ran in heels humored me a bit. She was quite late with that potion.

"Karin-Chan! You.." She looked at her for a bit and then looked to me, "How did she..?"

I shook my head, "I don't know.."

"I suppose I got lucky-" Karin began, but then her eyes caught on the bottle. "Rukia-san, what does that potion do?"

"Oh it," I tried to tell her to stop, but she continued almost ignoring my warnings, "It turns any demon into a human for a short period of time. For a demon like Hitsugaya-sama, it would only last a few hours. But this was more than enough time to break the fragment in you which-" Rukia finally noticed my signs and covered her mouth.

Karin looked at me with wide eyes, one of those stupid smiles again drew across her face.

"So you..You where planning to save me..I thought..When I over heard Rukia and you that...You where planning to poison me or something to make it less painful..But I.." She smiled again, it was so unbearably kind and thankful that I almost felt embarrassed that I helped her. "Thank you," She said.

I coughed and looked away from her gaze, "We where still to late..It ended up just being you who saved yourself..

"I guess it was like you said, I should've let you handle things..."

I darted my eyes backward to see she was started to get teary eyed. Did I say something wrong?

"That's the first thing you ever remembered me saying.." She wiped her eyes, smiling, "I'm such a cry baby."

I laughed and bit and turned away, "Now what was your name again?"

With a choked up laugh she gave my arm a friendly punch(on the sleeve, thank god).

"Now isn't that cute. You two look like best friends!" Rukia squeals, "But you two would look so great together as a couple!"

Then something happens..Something I really didn't expect. Rukia drops, the thing so precious..What once held Karin's life in the balance. She drops the potion...

On me.

And the suddenly. I can't feel it..My demonic energy...It's all gone. And my hands..I take off my gloves and pick a wild flower in the grass. It..It doesn't wilt!

I glare at Rukia, as if to say, I'll get you for this! Because obviously it wasn't a coincidence that she just happened to drop it and it just happened to land on me at this moment.

And though I'm just barely able to catch it. Rukia winks at Karin, as if giving her the ok.

Karin begins, "This is my thanks."

She wraps her arms around me and kisses me. And in that instant, I'm looking down on what she's doing. So for a minute I'm thinking, isn't she like a daughter figure? So it's this...Wrong? But then, where in the world did she learn to kiss someone in the first place? I shouldn't let her go out so much then..

_What is she to you, that girl? _The words still taunted me.

Well I suppose I'll see. I accept Karin's lips and very lightly kiss her back. Though at first though..I don't really feel anything. And I suppose it's natural because this was like a "thank you" kiss..But then, for a 200 year old I didn't have very much experience in that field. The way though, this felt, was now exactly anything at all. Just friendly. And that's what I wanted, and that's what she wanted. So the kiss just hung there..

But then it occurred to me that people had always told me that the first time I do something, it'd better be the best. Of course, that was in academics..But I'm sure this applies to everything in life, right? And I mentioned before that I don't think, I've ever kissed anyone back. And right now I actually..Am.. So shouldn't I put my all into it like my teachers used to say. It won't hurt anyway, because I'm trying to figure out from this kiss, what she is to me.

This time then, she widens her eyes because I don't let her pull away and I push her back with the intensity. Though she can't understand, I think she believes this a contest because she pushed me back after that and all of a sudden it seems like the kiss is just a head butt of a strength contest. How did this happen in the first place. Why did she kiss me in the first place again?

But then I felt something, when she pushed my back up against the tree. A faint something, that was barely even there. But it..Made me want more for some reason..And I can feel the air to my lungs running out, but this time she doesn't let me go. It seems like then...She feel that too, because when she keeps me there, I can tell she's looking for it again.

And when we pull away, looking at each other in the eye, we're both confused. I, by what she did. She, by how I respond. And both of us, by what we felt.

Karin glanced away from me and cut me off saying, "I-I think I...Need to go.."

She calls Rukia, but Rukia is frozen for some reason. She seems stunned by something...

"Rukia?" Karin asks again.

She puts her hand on Rukia's shoulder and just as that happens, there's a puff of smoke. And suddenly I see it again. Those green eyes...And that short curly blond hair.

"..My fiance?" I began in dismay, "How'd you.."

And then it all fits..Rukia was never present with she was..And it's just a hunch but..Are they the same..The same person?

"She's your..But how did..And Rukia.." Karin was having a harder time grasping it.

"My name is not 'fiance', it's Ren." She said, scratching her head, "That stupid freaking idiot, she's deliberately trying hook our fiance up with someone else!"

Karin and I say at the same time, "Our Fiance?"

"Right, then, I suppose you would've figured out anyway." She brushes the dirt off the maid's outfit and begins, "What have you been making my double wear?"

Double? Did that mean then..That they where the same person like I thought..

Where they-

Ren walked up to Karin and slapped her across the face.

"How dare you," She began, "How dare you kiss my fiance!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Thank ya'll so much for supporting this story and I love you so much! Review review review! Shout out to Meggie-moo s! She reccomended my story in her own so..I'll do the same! Everyone read jackedup fairytale! Yeah!**

**Reviewers to thank:**

**KarinKurosakiHitsugaya913**

**meggie-moo s**

**Turtle-chan in Blue**

**TheRedSin**

**keroneko13**

**Blueberry Absinth**

**THANKS TO ALL!**

**Love ya,**

**~*RukiaRocks*~**


	5. Outsmarted

Outsmarted

The first thing I checked to see was if she was wearing them. And all at once I'm thinking, _no way, all that trouble just for her to die here? _

And all I can do is mutter, "She's..She's not wearing any gloves."

Karin notices this. And as she steps back from being slapped she holds her cheek and looks at Ren. She waits. I wait. Will she die by the touch of a demon? Though we had tried so hard to withhold contact for 10 years? Will a random person come in and shatter the peace so easily?

But to both of ours surprise...

Nothing happened.

And that's when I managed to figure all of this out.

Twin demons are not uncommon in the underworld. In fact, you're more likely to get quintuplets than you are to get a single child. That is, then, why I and my brother are so special. Each born separately. Each the only one birthed. No twin. No triplet copies. However, is it possible to go beyond that, and possibly mix two opposite twins together into one being. Siamese twins occur on accident in the human world, yet in hell anything can be done to an unborn demonic being so my theory should be possible. This explains why Rukia and Ren are the same person. And why Ren claims Rukia to be her "double".

But then, there's the thought of her family. Rukia was a noble heiress. Ren was a baroness in demon society, however, she didn't even rank in her own family of demons. Is this because their family didn't want their doubles to be discovered? If they where originally two people, did they pick one as the noble and cast out the other? That would mean Rukia would be the demon for public appearance and idolization for what a soul piper should be, and her double was the one who performed all the dirty deeds and stayed undercover in the worst parts of the family line. That way Rukia could become a tool for her family to spy on the underdogs and see if any conspiracy where to occur ahead of time.

But..That's still a stretch. If Rukia had a double, my council was sure to have know about it. So are they sending me a message by engaging me to Rukia and Ren. Do they want me to do something with her? Or perhaps, are they trying to say something about Rukia herself? Why is it she resigned being the heiress, yet her double was still a productive member of their family? Unless...Unless Rukia was meant to resign and follow me for some reason..To get information perhaps? And Ren could report it back without any record of Rukia herself being in hell. So then...If Rukia is spying on me..For what? Was it to gather information to take the thrown? No. In 11 years she couldn't have known she could be may fiance. But then why...

I remember now, I had my suspicions before. When Ren mentioned my rank and hers. Something is going on within hell that I'm not there to see. And if that's correct, That's what my council is trying to tell me. That's what Rukia is trying to get information on me for as well, somehow I'm connected to all this, or in someway Rukia plans to use me. Either way can't seem to piece together the reasons for which Ren and Rukia would be chosen as my fiance... It just doesn't make any sense. Two wives is very dangerous for someone because someone could suspect an affair.

My eyes widened. That's it! Ren wants to take the thrown for me. So does the soul piper clan because it would elevate their status. They sent Rukia in to get close to me and to find out more about me. But that was a decoy. When Ren becomes my wife, they'll let Rukia bust onto the scene and frame me. It's perfect seeing as Rukia is my maid and I have access to her at anytime. On top of that, they'll kill Karin so that I can return to hell and the eyes of all media will be on me. Then, behind the scenes, they'll corrupt the high ups so that they can overthrow me.

So that's it!

I look up at Ren and pretend to care about the situation. If I know all this, I can't let them know I'm aware or they'll change game plans. That only creates more problems for me. The first thing to do is to get their reason for framing me out of the way. I need to shake off Rukia. If possible, I want to refrain for killing her because of her status with actually still remains but is hidden so that I will pity her misfortune and she will stay my maid. But also...my eyes dart back to Karin, who's still thinking about what happened and is rubbing her cheek..I need to provide better protection for the human. If she isn't alive, I'll loose my foundation for staying in the human world and be forced to go back to hell. If that happens, I'll get married straight away. And that's just one step closer to their goal...

That was close though, the human almost died. I was totally off guard...

I glance in Ren's direction. Did she perhaps use the morphing potion on herself so that she could become human? Did Rukia do that? Or did she? And why? Or..Did Ren dilute her demonic energy so that she wouldn't harm Karin? But why would she do that when Karin is in the way?

Karin sits there, stunned for a minute. But then she takes her hand off her cheek and asks me bluntly, "So then you're saying, she won't kill me if she touches me?"

Obviously. I give her a half nod, but I have no idea what she's planning to do with that information.

Karin takes her hand and balls it into a fist. And in what big stroke back and forward, she slams her fist into Ren's cheek. She falls over from the strength of the punch.

Karin gets up and spits on the grass where Ren lay,

"Just because I'm a human doesn't mean I'm powerless. You picked the wrong tomboy to mess with," She says.

Ren jumps up and tries to punch Karin back, but Karin leans back to dodge it and swings her leg along the ground and trips Ren in return.

"Looks like demons are only good for nasty magic tricks," Karin laughs.

Ren wipes the bit of spit that escaped from her lips. She glared at Karin saying, "You littler brat."

"Be sure not to over step your boundaries, by the way," Karin adds.

"What?" Ren asks.

"He's not you're husband and you don't own him. And even if you did, does a kiss scare you? Afraid I'll steal him away," Karin chuckles.

Ren grabs Karin and pulls her down to the ground. She scrambles on top of her and pulls at her hair while Karin grabs her cheeks.

"How dare you say that you impudent wench. Are you suggesting my fiance would choice you over me? You disgusting maggot?" She says through a stretched out face.

"I doubt you're any closer to winning that alien's heart than I am," She retorts.

Ren takes Karin's head and slams it back against the ground, "You're even insulting him now?"

It can't be..Where these girl possibly...Fighting over me?

"Slut!" Karin yells.

"Masculine she-monster!" Ren replies.

I suppose not..It seemed like a brief topic to see who was better..Now they're on to the contest of who can insult the other more.

I hesitated, thinking I might kill Ren or Karin if I tried to pull them apart. But then, when I remembered I was human now, I grabbed the closed thing to me that was connected to one of the girls and pull on off the other. It just happened to be Ren's dress collar.

I began a bit irritated, "I paid a lot for that dress she's wearing, you better not ruin it," And that was definitely true. But it was too late. Karin's dress was already sullied with dirt and ripped in various places. I sighed. Yet another thing for the maids to fix. But I suppose it would've happened eventually...

"Ah! So now you're taking the human's side?" Ren exclaimed.

"Stop acting so childishly, letting a mere human toy with your emotions is a wonder in the first place."

She interrupted, "Childish!"

But then I began again, "And in case you haven't noticed, all of us here seemed to be humans at the moment," I replied.

This will conclude my theory on if she used a morphing potion. Since I touched her and I didn't die, it meant she either reduced her spirit energy at that moment(which is highly unlikely) or she was just human from the start.

Her eyes widen and and darted my eyes in her direction, "So I'm correct," I began, "Would you mind then, telling me the real reason you are here. It's not to send me back to hell, is it. No, you tried kill Karin for fun, but you're here for something bigger."

I'm right. Karin should be killed after I get married to prevent suspicions. It wouldn't be a problem to kill her at anytime, but just to be safe, I would probably hold off on killing such a trivial obstacle. So I'm sure the strategists of the soul piper clan are doing the same. So now then, what is Ren truly here for. It's way to early to start any plans to overthrow me. So then something having to do with the bigger picture about rankings in hell...Could she be here on that matter?

"Once again, you'll have to give me and answer for me to give you one," She grinned again. That same meticulous smirk that seemed to laugh at you through empty eyes. I hated that smile and that stare. It was as if she was looking down on you. Or perhaps even arrogantly pretending to gaze through you, with a self proclaimed sense of righteousness..

Karin sat up and undid her half up half down hair which was, by now, ruined.. She shook out her hair and laughed, "I've never been in a cat fight before, it's kind of amusing.."

She pulled her hair in front of her face and brushed it through with her fingers.

Damn it, I can't get anything out of Ren if Karin is here..And she'll never agree to leave.

"Karin," I began.

She stopped pulling her fingers through her hair immediately and parted the locks away from her face, "Hey, look who remembered my name!" She laughed, "What's up?"

"I need to get some business done, can we ride back to the estate and-"

"No!" She interrupted with a hurried tone, "I mean...We still haven't gone to see a lot of things..." She looked away nervously.

Horrible. She was totally horrible at lying. Obviously I can infer that something is going on at the estate. But judging by who this human is, it isn't anything threatening, probably some sort of celebration again..She did that for my birthday too..She's always done things like that since she was 7 and began learning world history. Things like my birthday and New Years..Christmas and Mardi Gras..

They where all celebrated. Even though New Years and my birthday where celebrating having gone through or about to experience 1 year of live...Either way each where bad. One year left to live in boredom. Or one year less of life.. Then Christmas was merely a birthday for a god we don't believe in. Hell! I don't even know that exists. And then finally, Mardi Gras. The celebration itself is for no reason. And the things included in it like fasting for a day then gorging yourself afterward...There's no meaning to that celebration at all..Never the less, Karin still threw the parties. But in the summer..I don't believe there where any holidays...

In any case, we have to go back to the estate regardless. I have to get some answers while I still have Ren detained. She will probably stay a human for about 2 hours..I will probably be a day..So I'm at the disadvantage and I need Ren in and out of here within 2 hours so she can't harm me while I'm weak..But I still need answers...

But wait..If Karin was stalling this whole time, why is it she was about to go back to the estate just before Rukia turned into Ren? Was she planning on going somewhere else with Rukia rather than back to the carriage. It can't be then..Was she planning on doing something with Rukia..Like conversing secretly? Was..Karin part of whatever plan Ren and Rukia where doing as well? Or was standing up and saying she needed to leave just an impulsive action fueled by her emotions?...

"Let's um..Go shop some more in town or..." Karin began. That wouldn't work anyway. When I'm human, I'm in a weak state and any enemy can kill me. I need to go back to the estate regardless of whether Ren is present or not..

"Whatever you're hiding doesn't matter to me. But we're going back to the estate," I said.

Surprised by how I saw right through her pathetic attempt at lying, Karin began to stutter, "W-Well I'm not going!" In defense.

"Fine then, if you won't go, I'm sure Ren and I will have lots of fun alone at the estate," I glanced at Ren and gave her a look as if to say, 'now help me convince her or you don't want to know what will happen,'.

And I suppose you could say she got the message but she replied rather weakly, "Um..Yeah..." Obviously, not a good enough reaction. But somehow Karin's stupidity or jealousy ignored the fact that everything before was probably a lie and she began quickly, "I-I can come with you.." But then she looked away as if to process what she just said. Probably regretting it seeing as she was stalling and won't let us leave for the estate.

* * *

In the carriage things got rather..Awkward. I made Karin sit across from Ren and they glared at each other. I think I was the only one keeping them from mauling each other like animals. Although it was amusing to see then rip each other's hair our for no given reason..I'd pass on it because the soon I get to the estate, the better, and I don't then two cats clawing at each other is going to make the trip seem any faster.

I glanced down, again, at the red velvet of the carriage seats. And again, the color of blood came to mind. But it was strange..Your mind set might even change when you use morphing potions. Because..Now when I think of blood, it only makes me think of injuries..Not food..

"It's about time then," Ren says, and for the first time, avoiding eye contact with Karin. She looks out the window and fiddles with her hair.

Then I see the glimmer at her waist..Her hand was right near it meaning..

Shit. A knife...What was she planning on doing with it. She smiled as she saw that I had noticed it. She laughed a bit and shushed me. Then in and instant, she jumped up and slit a cut across Karin's right arm. Karin stared at the light paper cut as it dripped lightly with blood. Red...Like the seats..No...Blood...Thick...Delicious..Food.

I could feel it again then. That pang, coming back. But...Aren't I human now? How did the affect of the morphing potion ware off so easily?

"You're too easy to outwit, Toshiro-sama. Are you getting rusty after just 11 years?" Ren began.

I slammed myself up against the side of the carriage, wincing as I could feel something come on again.

"It wasn't that hard to deceive you this time. I turned myself into a human as a decoy so that you'd think about why I did that rather than why Rukia turned into Ren in the first place. You where one move behind me the whole time," My eyes widened as she continued, "You where probably thinking along the lines of a framing..And if you where smart, you'd see I was hinting you that there is something further than that. And that is true, my mission here is not only to take the thrown and kill that girl, but also to reverse who's in power in hell. But not knowing that, you probably thought I was here on other business concerning the other mission because it would be too early to move in on the framing or try to kill that girl. Well the truth is," She smirked again and glanced at me, and then to Karin.

"The strategists knew you'd think to kill the girl later. So they decided to send me to kill her now. You thought the whole time that my double was a spy and also that we where mixed twins but in reality you failed to realize that she could have just been a hostage who had nothing to do with me. And when I needed to be where she was, I could form a warp hole and switched with her."

My eyes widened as she continued, "You screwed up big time. Because you missed three big things," She help three fingers and ticked off as she went, "One, did you really think, just because I was wearing the same clothing Rukia wears everyday that I was connected in the same body as hers. I mean, look at my height and cup size. Two, who ever confirmed that I was your fiance? And finally three,"

She gave me an even more disturbing look than before, "The actual potion Rukia gave you was just a drop of the real thing and," She laughed, "Water."

My eyes widened. No way, I...

"You used to be the best of the best, Toshiro! What happened to the grand duke after such a short time?" She took the dagger then, and plunged it into my stomach.

Why is it my nerves seem to be inflamed? Is there a part of me that's still human? Could it be I still can't regenerate and have the same nerve endings as I normally have? Are they still human? No that's not it, it's-

Ren smiled again, "That's right, a silver dagger. Though it's rumored to only work of vampires, we soul pipers tried it our on a few arc angels and found that have a nasty weakness for it. In fact it's almost like poison to them. I'm sure you already know the details but just in case it slipped your mind, here's how it works," She began.

"You'll slowly have a enormous blood thirst, though it doesn't help your wound at all. And as you begin to feel as if you're dying, you'll loose control of you body but still have a consciousness. In other words, you'll be able to witness it when you kill your own beloved human daughter," Ren laughed as Karin's eyes widened, "W-what?"

"Oh but loosing control means more than sucking blood. You might touch her a bit erotically, but that can't be helped. So just to make it easier, I added a bit of demonic energy nullification so that you can touch her," She laughed.

She put the dagger back in it's sheath and set it in her coat pocket.

"I wish I could stay and watch the show my superiors have to brilliantly devised..But I have to get going for someone catches me. It was fun being you're fiance for what it's worth. I expect to you again some time," She says as I begin to see the warp hole begin to form.

"See you later then, Shiro-chan," She giggles and steps into the blackness. As she begins to fade away Karin and I hear her faintly say, "Have fun playing together!"

When she's gone I stop tensing up and grab my stomach in some sort of pain.

Karin, without a second's hesitation, scoots over and comforts me. "You ok?"

God, the process is faster than I thought. I could feel my eyes changing color already and I was fighting to keep my teeth in. With my fang peeking out of the side of my mouth and one red eye glaring at her I began weakly, "Didn't you..Hear what she just said?"

Karin jumped back by my appearance and hesitated before touching me and drew her arms away.

"Jump out of the carriage." I say.

"W-what?" She begins.

"Just do it! I can't hold back for long..." I replied.

Damn it! I was cornered. I just said I had to be more wary around this girl and look where I am now? How was I outwitted so easily? And why did Ren tell me everything she planned for me to do? To mock me and say I was her puppet? To prove even if I knew it wouldn't help? Why is it I missed all the holes? How as I outsmarted?

I waited for Karin to respond. But to my surprise, she didn't answer for a long while. I had to grip myself tighter as I began to pay more attention to the blood rushing down her arm.

"You know, death doesn't really scare me." She avoided eye contact with me and began looking on the window, "You told me, you found me at your gate. I was abandoned, right? Left for dead. Yet you saved me. And since I had yet another brush with death today I think I've confirmed it..."

She looks me straight in the eye and says, "Death doesn't really scare me. And if you want my blood, even if I'll die from it, take it. I owe you my life anyway. I mean, didn't you save me to use me?"

Things are different now...I look away and start to pant from the blood loss. It's wet, all of my attire from the waist down is wet with blood. And the velvet seats are stained red even more so now. Yet I can still smell it. Her blood, over mine.

"Selfish as usual.." I mumble, smiling.

She blinks twice and starts to huh? But I continue, "What about...What I want? What if..I don't want to kill you?"

Her eyes widened as she looked down, not responding.

"If you're not going to leave because of some misguided sense of owing...Promise me this," I say, as my hands start to come away from my sides and I loose control.

"Fight me. For as long as you can. And try your best to stop me," And I think..For the first time in a long time I mumble the word, "Please.."

And I think she nods, but I can't remember because all I can think about is when I'm pinning her to the carriage seat and sliding my touch across her neck.

* * *

**Author: GOD! *Kicks self* CHAPTER WAS SOOO SHORT! SORRY... MAKE IT UP TO YOU NEXT WEEK!**

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	6. Heartbeat

Heart Beat

How strange...I can't stop. Why won't I stop? Stop it? But I just can't seem to..Take my eyes off of her. I tightened my grip on her shoulders as I tried to resist it. Slower...I could slow it down, the rate in which I slid my tongue across her neck. I could slow it, but I couldn't stop it. This thirst made me do something so monstrous as to play wit my food. To lick it before I eat it? How could I? I open my mouth wide and poise my fangs for striking. Why wasn't she fighting me? I told her to fight me.

I didn't even look at her..I didn't even have that much control in my body..But it was strange because I could feel it..Everything I did. Every contact I made with her skin.

I could feel the tip of my fang graze her neck. I tried with all my might to stop. And surprisingly, I stopped, just for a moment. For that split second. And in that I rose up and slammed my body up against the opposite side of the carriage.

"Why aren't you fighting me?" I wince as I grab my neck from the pain that now outweighed that of my stomach injury. Ren wasn't lying. It burned so much. This thirst.

"You told me..Not to fight it..." She says hesitantly.

I what? Have I been talking to her..My instinct? Is that possible?

I slammed against the carriage again as I started to loose control. And for the first time I realized what she said was true. I was speaking..Beyond my control. How is that?

"That's right, sweetheart, just go with it," I said.

What am I..Doing?

"Sir is everything alright back there?" The carriage driver asks.

"Fine," I say. No nothing is fine...What in the world am I doing...

She stared at me with almost frightened eyes. Confused even more so..But I suspect I look pretty freaky about now...Scarlet red eyes, a conceded smile, I doubt, if she survives, that she'll ever talk to me again.

But I don't want that...I don't want her to leave me alone. Why was that?

"You've got to fight..." I said again, through gritted teeth.

"But you just said-"

"Forget that! Forget everything I say from here on in! Fight me! You've got to," I plead.

And then by that time, I lost it again. I jumped back on top of where she was laying. But this time my eyes didn't immediately follow to her neck. Rather, they scaled down her body. What was I going to do? Her hair was laying out on the seat and laying over it's edge. She had both her hands kept up by her head and her legs buckled protectively. Her eyes stared at me wide eyed, and they never removed their gaze, not even for a moment as she breather steadily. In and out. And I seriously don't want that breathing to stop.

What are.. My hands doing? I smile strangely as they reach down and pull up her dress slightly.

She grabs it and pulls it down, "What the hell are you doing?"

I automatically grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head. She used the other hand then, to try and pull down her dress, but I stopped her by taking that arm as well and holding it with my left hand. I took my right hand and shoved her dress up, running my hands down her soft skin. What was I..Doing? Stop it..

_Death doesn't scare me.._I hear her say in my head. That doesn't include rape. And I don't intend to do either of those. I've got to stop..Got to...

She fidgeted left and right and kicked her legs up and down as she tried to resist.

"Toshiro- no. You've got to-" She stops as her eyes widen. She gasps and her chest flies forward as she slams back down with a thud. And I finally realize..Where my fingers are.

She shuts her eyes tight and looks away.

"No use..." She says smiling bitterly.

She was saying that to me. She couldn't fight..Not even if she tried. And I realized that was too much to ask. If I didn't help her, she couldn't help me. I stop myself again and begin with a shaking voice, "I can't keep pausing like this," I say. I can't hold back for long. I think this is the last time I can muster it. I'm just loosing too much blood. It's a wonder that I was able to gain consciousness in the first place...

"Toshiro?" She asks, "Is that you?" She starts to get teary eyed. What does she mean?

I suppose since I was gritting my teeth now and frowning with my head down, I was something of myself again..

"I'm sorry.." I manage to say, I never say that..I never..But it's all I can say at this point..Considering what I've just done..And what I might do.

"It was..Bound to happen eventually, right?" She says weakly, through a flush face, "I should just...relax, right? Let you do your thing..Because I can't fight back?" She asks.

"No..." I shake my head while looking down on her, "Don't give up." I pant, "I still haven't."

"It's fine," She says raising her arms as I automatically let them go. This seems to be strange...I can actually control it..My body..And I'm no struggling.

She reaches up and runs her fingers through my hair, "Don't give up if you don't want to...But we both know how this will end."

She draws my head toward her neck.

"Go ahead and do it now, while you have control," She says.

"Wait Karin, I can't," I began.

"Please. I'd like it better," She says, "If your the one who does it."

_I can't understand humans_..I think as I draw my fangs. _But somehow..I envy them for that._

They pierce through..I can feel it. Now I've violated her in two ways. I've never done this before...Never actually used my fangs. But it seems to hurt more though, that thirst. It stings my neck...I don't know..How I'm supposed to drink it...So messily, a line of her blood starts to drizzle down her neck, I lap it up carefully as I focus on her blood. And about not loosing control and sucking her dry. I can feel when I pierce her, her tight grip on my hair and her body jolt up for a second. Just like before. I suppose it hurt. But after that, she goes with it obediently. He grip loosens.

"It's weird." She began as I carelessly try to figure out how to drink her blood, "I used to..Not even be able to touch you. Now I'm so close that I..." Her eyes start to shut slowly, "I can feel your heart beat..."

"What does it taste like, I wonder.." She whispers.

What am I doing? I shouldn't be doing this..No I could never..He hands slide down to my shirt that she'd unbuttoned earlier, "How does it taste, Toshiro?" She asked.

I wish I could answer...I could feel now from her heart beat..That she was slowly starting to fade. I didn't want that, how did I drink so much in such an short time? I need to stop now, don't I? But...How?

The suddenly, the carriage stops.

"We're here, sir!" I hear the driver state.

Yes! Now come around quickly and help her before I...

"Sir?"

"Can you give us a minute?" Karin says.

No! Don't say that, you can't, I bare my fangs harder and she moans a bit.

"What was that for?" She asked.

Sorry..I didn't mean to...

"Is everything alright?" The driver asks.

"Ye-"

I grab her shoulder hard and she seems to understand. I could feel that she was about to knock out from the blood loss. I could feel it in her heart beat. My maids have always told me, when it slows even in the slightest, stop. But the problem is..How do I do that? And not only that, it's starting to slowly more that slightly.

Karin doesn't speak as the driver comes around and opens the door to find us. Blood spilling from my stomach, to Karin's dress, down to the seat and then to the blood. Red eyes, staring at him through bared fangs that somehow disconnected from Karin long enough to snarl at him. Almost as if to say "My food". Karin's dress collar, I realized now, was unbuttoned all the way down, partially because it was covering her neck, and also..well because I suppose my instincts took over and wanted to pull in farther down..Who knows..And her dress now, what definitely going to have to me thrown away, even if it wasn't soaked I don't think she'd want to look at it after today..Considering where my finger where when she wore it... As well as her legs which where, by now, soaked in blood as well.

"Hitsugaya-sama?" The carriage man asked.

I somehow managed to snap out of my trance long enough to say, "Please, help her." And again that word came again..Please.. Karin's breathing deepened as she tried to lift her head to look back, but she couldn't.

She smiled and laughed, "I think...I can't feel my legs."

* * *

One of my maids draws a blanket over her shoulders and the other hands her tea.

"Here dear," She says.

"Oh..Thanks.." Karin replies.

The others surrounding me, where hard at work stitching me up. They had put a binding spell on me so that I didn't have to waist my energy on trying to control myself. This time, I couldn't get to Karin no matter what. And I could feel it..How much of a beast I was becoming. And it never phased me because I've never lost control, but this is why I liked humans so much..They where always so composed...

The maids shoved a potions down my throat as I twisted and turned to try and resist. I wanted it, but I was told not to waist time on trying to control my body. It was the potion, they said, that would take away the thirst and remove the silver's affect from my body. That way I could regenerate and they wouldn't have to patch me up.

When they finished making my guzzle it down, I leaned forward with all my might and released all the demonic energy I had left, this of course, was just reflected back at me through the spell. Why did I keep doing that is I knew I was just going to be blown away by my own blast anyway, so what am I, Insane? Why do I keep doing that over and over again. And why was I glaring a Karin with such intense eyes. What did I have, unfinished business.

Slowly, after everyone was sure that I was safe. They unshackled and unbound my hands and powers. When I get up off the bloody ground, they immediately suggest I get a blood transfusion and cleanse myself. But at the moment..I didn't care about any of that. I asked them all to leave after that. All but Karin. Suspiciously then, they all dispersed quickly.

As the doors behind Karin and I shut, I began quickly once more, "I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened and she looked away, gripping her blanket tight, "The maids where..Planning a party for you...Because they where happy you where finally learning how to be your age." She tried to change the subject.

I don't reply.

"I'd rather just put that behind us," She began, "I mean, as a human and demon something like this is bound to happen. But we've just got to learn to move one, right?" She says smiling.

It amazes me at how we can do that..Smile after what just happened. And even more, I feel worse for doing that..Making her cry in the first place. I really do just want that smile to always stay on her face..I owe her that much..

"How can you do that," I ask, taking off my bloody shirt, "Smile so much, I mean.."

"Hey! Don't change in front of a girl!" She says, trying not to let her gaze slide down from my face.

"All I did was take off my shirt. And like I said before, I thought I raised a boy, right?" I flung my shirt over on the couch.

"That's the lamest line I've ever heard! You definitely know I'm a girl considering where your hands have been!" She yells.

"I thought you said that we'd put that behind us," I inform her.

"Well ok, I'll put it behind me when you smile! Have you even tried smiling in your life?" She nags.

"Why would I smile for a human like you-"

"Oh no you don't, don't you dare hide behind that rank crap again! I'm your teacher now so you have to smile, it's an assignment!" She says.

Then suddenly we hear a crash..From where? Outside. Hastily Karin and I push open the doors together.

"I could've gotten this myself," I say to her.

"Oh shut up, pervert." She says.

What in the world was that name? Will she continue to taunt me about that? I thought girls would go into shock about something like that and never want it to be mentioned again, but her..What is wrong with her? I'm sure I didn't drop her when she was a child..

But when we open the doors..It all seems weird. I'm pissed off because my glass windows are shattered. The maids are freaking out because I can even smell it too, the stench of a human and it's blood. But what surprises me the most is Karin, why is she looking at that boy that way. This boy who just broke through my estate windows...

He had red hair, quite a rarity for the humans..And he had a determined glare.

"Jinta!" She says, "What are you doing here-"

"I knew it, you've been living with them," Jinta says, "I could always sense demon on you," He points at me and says this, "You did it, you took her blood didn't you."

"So there's actually another human who knows about demons.." I say, intrigued. So he knows about what happened. What I need to figure out is why Karin's eyes are so worried for this boy..Why they care for him. And better yet, why she's been hanging out with boys in the first place. I should think about not letting her go into town so often...

"I'm coming to take her back," The boy says.

"What?" I say, raising an eyebrow. This what the craziest human I've ever seen.

"Karin has been approved as a priestess, I am here as an escort to send her to the shrine of healing," The small boy proclaims.

My eyes widen as I repeat, "What!"

I look over to Karin. So that's why she could resist the fragment inside of her soul. It was because she was..Or perhaps had been training to be a priestess otherwise known as..

...A demons slayer.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

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	7. Tea

Tea

"That's great, but I already denied the invite, Jinta," Karin informs.

"That's just it! You've been brain washed! These filthy monsters you've been living with, they're not what you think they are!" The boy, again points at me in disgust.

"These people are my family. I will not tolerate you calling them monsters ever!" She raises her voice.

"Then why did you stop hanging out with me the minute you figured out what priests did? The same instant I found out about the demons? Admit it! You where told to do that-" He asked, getting enraged as well.

"I stopped playing with you because of your closed mind! You people are so prejudice you don't get change a chance! That includes demons which you have naturally alienated," She argues.

How childish. The both of them. Or rather, how human. Letting their emotions get the better of them like fools. This matter, is trivial. Never the less, that scent is getting to me. The blood of this boy, though it's slightly less appealing, this is most likely because of his high purification rate. Even now I can see his body is melting away all the demonic energy into the room, virtually purifying the powers of the demons around him. This boy was definitely a priest. He was definitely not joking when he'd said he would take Karin. But as I have said before, I cannot allow that.

"Since when am I a filthy monster? It's you humans who are ugly," I say. It's just over 2 hours since the potion was given to me, I should have all my demonic energy now.

"Oh so now I'm ugly?" Karin asks.

"You both are so idiotic. Boy, you cannot take Karin from this estate. Not only is it not your choice to make her become a priestess, it was never hers. Even if she where to accept your offer you forgot one thing," I took a pair of gloves off the counter and slap them on.

I step out in front of Karin and put my hands back to signify she should back away. She does.

"I am the owner of this estate. And while you are on my property what I say goes. And also," I began, taking my right hand and twirling the air in with my index finger and pointer finger. I wrapped my demonic energy around the air beside the boy so that I could manipulate it as I pleased. Taking the air, I quickly chilled it to a light frost that creeped up the side of the broke window, and just a bit threateningly, I use the air near his face to nip a small cut on his cheek.

"I raised this girl. She is mine and I'm tell you now. You will not take her away," I state.

I felt, so much more energized with blood now. I don't know why. Is that what having pure blood feels like? I suppose it helps you fight and stay alert..But I wouldn't..And no one's said anything about that..

I think I here some weir noise, and when I glance back all of my maids are staring at me with something of teary eyes, "Awe!" they say. And, "That's so cute!". What did I say?

The boy bit his lip as he angrily wiped away the blood coming from his cheek.

"You don't.." He muttered.

Then suddenly, he exclaimed with a furious child-like scream. He pointed at me again with that stupid determined look, "Know a thing about Karin! You suck ass mother fucking demons don't give a shit about humans! And if you did, you'd let her live with her own kinda, asshole!" He immediately then, took off, out of the window.

Very pissed off, I began slowly, "Well. I suppose we know where Karin got her language from."

So the boy chickened out on the fight..Though I doubt he just randomly burst in here for nothing..Maybe his resolve dissipated.

He turn around and cross my arms, "Speaking of which, you have some explaining to do," I state.

She smiles sheepishly and glances away.

* * *

"You know, don't you?" I began as the maids brought her tea again.

"Soccer," She began, "That's all we did. For a long time. That is, until he started talking about my 'high purification levels'. But then..When I told him about you guys, I expected him to laugh and not believe me like any other I've met,"

**(Author's Note: Games similar to soccer or football(as said in the European countries) have been played since Greek and Roman ages. However, it was not given an official name until played in England in the 19th century. This is when it earned the title of football. Although our story is set in the 1800s, I have decided not to call it football. This partially because I'm going to forget later and call it soccer(you know Americans.. ) and also because football has two meanings whereas soccer has only been used to describe one sport. So yeah..I'm going with soccer on this one, K?)**

"But he was a priest, he knew demons actually existed," I filled in.

"Right. So then, I was kinda freaked out. He was pushing me to become a priestess and he started to talk about how horrible demons where. So naturally, I ran off and never met with him again," She explained.

"So then.." I start.

"Yes, I know a priestess' job is to kill demons," She sighs, "It's not like I even considered the offer so what's it matter?"

"You just don't get it, do you? Now the priests at the shrine know of out existence, and even if you are not pursued, we can be sure priests and priestess will come shortly and try to kill me," I specify.

Her eyes widen as she looks down at the ground, "I'm sorry.." She says.

Don't you dare do that! That stupid thing all you humans do.

"It's fine," I began hastily, "We're not going to do anything drastic for now. And it's not your fault so...Don't cry. It's disgraceful."

Which was true, for demons. But I didn't know why I was so irritated by tears. Well specifically her's. Perhaps because she's fit to smile. Or maybe because It's more comfortable for me if she where happy. Normally I don't really care how people feel when they are around me, but I seem to absorb every feeling this girl has as my own. Are all humans like this?

She glances up and dries her eyes, smiling and laughing, "I didn't know you where so sensitive. Are you actually caring about me for once in your life?"

"Don't be ridiculous," I avoid her gaze, "It's just pay back.."

She tilts her head curiously, "Hmm?"

Why am I blushing? What the hell am I, human all of a sudden!

"For the blood.." Does it really mean that much? Am I embarrassed to bring it up?

But surprisingly enough, she in return, darts her eyes away and blushes too. Which perplexes me because I have no idea why I'm doing this. And I'm not sure if she does either, "I-idiot, it was nothing. From what you said, I belong to you," She began.

And now again, I'm getting flush from remembering my own words. I didn't mean anything, and she was technically mine but still..What was this-

"Oh!" I hear. And all of a sudden I see my maid, who was taking away the tea pot and cups, trip on the carpet. And by some stroke of luck(Should I really call it that?), she bumps into my chair and sends the teapot flying toward Karin, with I as well, flying forward from the chair's jolt up.

It lands beside her, thanks god, and breaks upon impact with the ground, what's left of the tea spilling out on the floor. The rest of it, dumped over our heads. And I was able to react quick enough to grab the sides of her chair and stop centimeters away from touching her. She almost died, I can't believe it. I'm soaked, she's soaked, both in cool blueberry tea.

But there it is again, that feeling. It made us both get rather red. And as we both locked eyes for awhile, so close, her hands again, curling up toward her chest, we could feel it. The feeling that she was searching for in the kiss. What I this? It makes me feel weak..I don't like it..I like it..I hate it. It makes me confused. Hell, I can't even decide what I think of it. Here though, was no instinct to grab and lustfully bite her and suck her dry. No, it was very different. Lighthearted, as they call it, butterflies maybe..What was the term? Butterflies where? Oh forget it..I can't even explain the feeling..It's that confusing.

But then my eyes slid down to the blue piercings in her neck. Twin punctures to her being. They where starting to bruise and get purple-blue. But I couldn't believe that..I'd done that..

"Did it hurt?" I asked.

Her eye got even wider. But all she did was smile and shake her head.

"Your lies are never believable.." And, once again, she made me do something that I never do. Something that is as rare as a blue diamond. She made me smile. But not only that, bitterly grin. Because she knew, and I knew, something was growing, and something was dying, between the two of us. That feeling grew, while the wounds I left in her neck, they left injuries that will never heal. Slowly, I could feel it. The wall I'd put up to kill her out, the human out. I never used to talk to her at all. But that easily, it was all shattered. And now, now I can't believe what I'm feeling. And I can't believe what I did to her.

I drag my fingers up to where my fangs touched her neck. She obediently tilted her head to the side as a stray piece of hair fell down in front of the wounds.

How did this even happen? I didn't even know her name a few days ago!

Green tea dripped from my nose recklessly. It almost looked like a tear as it landed on Karin's cheek and slid down accordingly.

"Toshiro," She began.

"It's Hitsugaya-sama," I sigh.

"Can you honestly call me your daughter?" She finished.

My eyes shot open. And as I'm about to reply, the doors to the room open slowly. Moonlight shinning in the room, I can barely make out the figure in the doorway. And immediately I dismiss my maids, even the one who threw the tea on me. Because this woman, she needed to talk very well to get herself out of the situation she was in. And I don't want any other possible spies to hear my situation either.

"Karin, go to sleep," I commanded.

"Why, it's only 8," But then when she turns her head to the door, she understands. And as I get up, she carefully steps over the fragments of the teapot and passes the woman up on her way out of the room.

And when the doors are shut, the raven hair woman closes her amethyst eyes and gets down on her hands and knees.

"Am I deeply sorry, Hitsugaya-sama," She began.

I walk over to the cabinet and grab a towel. I was soaked with tea, so trying to dry off my hair, I walk over to the only dry chair and sit down in it. I do not let Rukia get up and sit, I am taking my time, drying my hair out, letting her sweat for a bit.

Finally I say, "Just the fact you came back says something. Either the soul pipers still plan to use you, or you where manipulated and set free only to return to right a wrong. You will tell me the whole story, and then we will decided if apologizing is really necessary."

And so she explains to me, everything she was required to do. This was, before she became my maid 11 years ago. When she applied for the position of my maid in hell, she was required to stay near me at all times, that is why she was willing to follow me into the world of humans. Why did she willingly follow those orders? Because the soul piper clan had her lover under close surveillance. This lover of hers, was human. And even though his fate was decided because an heiress especially could not be with a human, she had resolved to prolonging his life as much as possible. And when the brought in Ren, she automatically accepted the linking of her soul to a warp hole that would body swap her location with Ren's at any point in time. And also, she was obligated to keep quiet. This story, was mostly believable except..

"Why do you tell me all of this now? Aren't you still trying to protect this human?" I ask.

"That's precisely why I came here, sir. H-he's dying sir. The soul piper's put a fragment inside of him," She flattens herself, even closer to the ground, "Please sir, as royalty you of pure blood can do this. Please! Turn him into a demon!" She begs.

I do not reply. This can't be a made up story seeing as she really wants me to see this man, this would prove all of her story true, but it could also be a trap..

"Those whom live in the realm of the forsaken will never see the light,

However, he who tries to assist they will perish in the night," I recite.

"We have all been taught this poem, it's standard ancient text. Demons and humans are not meant to be together, and if you are not strong enough to protect this man, he was bound to be swallowed by the darkness," I explain.

"What you did is forbidden. And I cannot reward such behavior!" I say sternly.

"So loving is forbidden now? And you will deny a man his life for that reason? Regardless of what law says, he is not a toy! No item to be taken away!" She shoots up with anger, "And can you honestly say you're not doing the same with Karin-Chan!"

I stutter, "She's just a tool and," I bit my lip, this was a terrible lie. That's because I didn't believe it..

"Nothing can replace that man! Please, I'm begging you!" She shuts her eyes for an instant and then they fly back open with tears streaming down her face, "Save him!"

Tears..How utterly disgraceful. No noble does that. It's not possible, we where trained not to. But then how is she crying? This..Cannot be a trap. Why am I being so reckless? Because she's a friend I still trust? No..Because I feel as though..I'm giving her a chance, I feel her pain somehow. Not really because I've lost anyone, but because I feel this situation is soon to come for me as well..And no matter how I deny it, once I become the king, there will be eyes always watching Karin, and I will be strong then, but what happens when I get dragged away from her? What happens when she can't go to hell? She will be killed.

The thing is, why should I care? Is it because of the feel? It's seems to be guiding me to do so many childish things. I say childish, because that's how demons act as young children. But more likely, I'm acting human..On impulse..On emotion..Defying all logic and throwing thought away for instinctive feeling..

"My coat is in the same place," I said reluctantly, "This act I am about to commit is illegal and you must not tell anyone," As I said these words, her face seemed to brighten up with hope as she couldn't help but let out a gasp, "Yes, yes, I won't..And I'm going to get it now!" She scurries out of the room.

"Rukia!" I yell. She runs back in and bow in the doorway.

"Yes, Hitsugaya-sama!"

"And just for the record, I don't feel that way at all..Toward her I mean."

She sighs and hurriedly says, "Sure, sure."

* * *

As I step out into the lobby, I hear whispers to my left. This was, toward Karin's room.

"Hitsugaya-sama, are you coming?" Rukia asks.

"A moment," I say shushing her.

When I make my way over, just bellow the first stair case, I can hear it clearer now.

"I already told you, no! Now get out of here before he finds you again!" Karin says in a whisper.

"That demon doesn't scare me! I only ran because I was outnumbered," A boy whispered back.

This voice..The one who broke my window! What is he doing here?

"You and your stubborn ass pride! Just get out of here!" Karin responds.

"Not until you come back with me."

"I told you, I'm never going to do that. This is my home-"

"You haven't even seen their true forms! How can you call them a family when they're lying to you?" He argued.

She didn't respond for awhile, until finally the boy began, "Oh..So you really didn't know.."

Shit, he's going to tell her! But I can't do anything. If I do, Karin would be asking that question again in no time. She's sharp enough to figure out I intruded in the middle of that sentence..

"Demons like to look pretty so they transform into humans. Their true forms are disgusting beasts that eat humans and even their own kind."

Not true! We only turn into those things when you priests push our powers to the limit, purifying out demonic energy to much that we are reduced to our specie's base being. Our true form is the appearance we take on, it's just evolution has not gotten rid of what we used to be!

But I'm surprised when Karin responds after a slight delay, "So, I know that. I always knew there was something..A part of Toshiro that didn't have a mind...But it doesn't mean he's a bad person for hiding what might scare me!"

My eyes widened. Even though I actually don't have a "true form", she managed to believe it was my instinct being that sucked her blood. She turned the situation into something positive by making it seem as though I was hiding something for her own benefit.

Ha. She doesn't really need my help.

"That's not what true form is, when you see it, you'll understand!"

"Then I'll make him show me it! He'll do it for me, I guarantee it!" My eyes widen, what is she doing? I can't show her anything!

"Then if he doesn't, will you become a priestess?" He asks.

"I-I trust Toshiro!" She blurts out.

No, no, no! You freaking idiot, fool fool fool!

"Then make him drink thi-"

Rukia speaks over their conversation, "Hitsugaya-sama?"

Reluctantly, I walk back over to her and grab my coat.

I don't want to leave him alone with her. But I have to do this now or risk a life.

"Tch.." I bit my lip.

"Something the matter?" Rukia asks.

" Drama is appearing everywhere. Not only do I have demonic beings on my back, but humans as well.."

"Hitsugaya-sama, may I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?"

"If you where to plan out everything that you'd expect to happen in your life, do you think you'd catch every event that occurred in your life?" She asked.

"No," I reply.

"Well then, if you where to squeeze out all the medicine in a tube, could you put it back in?" She asked.

"Not easily," I reply.

**(Author's Note: Medicine from hell is what Rukia is referring too. It's advanced past the human world and is even kept in containers similar to what toothpaste is kept in. So really, what she's saying is if you squeeze toothpaste out of the container, isn't it hard to get it back in?)**

"Exactly," She began, "Words are easier said than taken back. Problems are harder to solve than they are to make. That's why life is about dealing with the ones you've got. Sometimes, the only advice left to give is that which is obvious," She climbs into the carriage, "Hang in there, and remember, the reward to solving a problem..It's normally an answer worth the effort," She finished, smiling.

But what if that problem is never solved..I sighed..What if it's so abstract you can't understand it in the least. You hate it. Yet you want it. Why is everything so upside down with my emotions?

* * *

We reached a small Cabin beside a clinic. Inside, a rather young, rambunctious looking, teenage human, was lying on some hay. He was sweating, just as Karin was, and panting just as furiously. However, he wasn't as composed as she was. Even though he was quite fit and muscular, his spirit seemed to fade much faster and succumb to the fragment faster.

"Are you sure you want to do this to him?" I ask Rukia.

"We have to help him!" Rukia said without hesitation.

I handed her my gloves and she put them on herself as she help on tight to the man's hand.

As his orange hair shook a bit from my demonic energy spinning the air, I began to cast the spell that would allow my demonic energy to enter his body and forcibly turn him into a demon. However, his spirit has to be strong to endure it. It's odd, men this ago normally have lots of determination, maybe he is not only battling with the fragment, but with a nightmare that was accompanied by it. Something that the soul pipers put there to kill him fast. Something that attacked his being, a question, something he was hiding in his past..If that where the case, I'd be dragged into it and I'd have to find a way to help him get out of it..

But despite these things looming around my head, I still began the chant, "The native infant smiles upon me as I am of pure blood!

Royal successor to the thrown of hell, I command thy spirit to submit to that thee shall live!"

God..I sounded cheesy, but if I didn't do this, I could crush his physical body because he spirit gave up protecting him. If I call out to it, he has less chances of dying.

"Let me enter, pure human spirit! I shall banish the demon which is plaguing you," I was never good at talking that stupid old fashion crap..But hopefully it gets the point and let's me in-

* * *

And as I expected, this man was having a dream. It was a nightmare to him..But I was still trying to figure it out.

"I can't loose another one..." A woman with brown hair whispered, she said it over and over again, blood dripping down her face an being washed away by the constant flow of rain. The man was a boy now, he was shaking this woman over and over again, crying,

"Hey, com' on mom, snap out of it!" He says. So this was his mother..Who in his family has orange hair then? Is it even natural?

"Tell me you can't see them.." She says.

"See what mom, see what!" He nudges her again.

She doesn't respond. He grabs her hand as she began again, "I want to believe it...I want to-"

"Mom!"

"The Black Birds..remember? You used to...Always tell me about them...Are they watching me?" She asked.

"Stop it mom! They-"

"Are they?"

"There's one.." Then suddenly, there's a black raven looking thing right beside him. It's huge and has red eyes. Definitely a demonic being, but how did it get through the gates to the human world? The birds tilts it's head and pecks at the boy's head.

"It's right next to me..Mom, you need to go see a doctor, can we go now!" He asked.

"So even you have it..I didn't notice it with you until now...You're not like..Your sisters.." Those words echoed and the scene faded to white. In the center of it, I could now see the real man, siting down in the white silence. All he did was stare blankly into space.

"Your soul just sucked me up, so tell me what's wrong. This is for your own good," I say, walking up to him.

"I already showed you.." He said with blank eyes.

"Well obviously I don't understand!" I say, irritated.

"I could always see them, you know, just flying around me, but never near anyone else. The black birds...But then mom said..And-"

"Get on with it, you're dying!" I interrupt.

"I know what I heard. And I know that the birds are part of some sort of power. But the thing is..."

"I only have one sister," He explains, biting his nail, his eyes still empty.

"That's what's been eating you away inside?" I ask, "How pathetic.."

But still...I can't really help him..He could have easily miss heard what his mother said..And at any rate, I don't know what to do-

"_Toshiro! Look at the big black bird!" _

"_Shut it you pest!" I pushed my foot in the chubby cheeks of the black haired girl._

"_No look, it has cool read eyes!" She says._

_Red eyes? What is a demon doing on my turf? I look up out of reading my book, nothing was there._

"_Lying is bad for your health, human. Don't do it." I advise._

"_But Karin isn't lying!" She pouts._

My eyes widen.

There's no way...

* * *

**Author's Note: Ok well..Like? Hate? Review plz!**

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**~*RukiaRocks*~**


	8. VOTE!

** Hey there! I'm sorry but this story, along with all my others, has been suspended until further notice. I know you all have been waiting for a new update, however, my summer break is coming to an end. And I was unaware, when I posted to hiatus message, that as soon as I returned from cam, I would only have 8 days until school started. So unfortunately, I cannot fulfill my promise..There will not be a chapter for this story or any of my others until I get settled into my new school. In fact, even if I settle in properly, I'll probably be too stressed to update anything but one story a week. SO! You need to go to my profile and vote for your favorite story of mine! I will update it this Friday! Then on Monday I will have a new pole posted in which you may vote again for which story I should update for that week. And so on and so forth. SO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE! Or you might not get an update on this story for months! Or maybe even until next summer!**

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